Ebook Vs Audiobook is a popular way to read books, but they have some key differences. Ebooks are digital versions of books that can be read on a computer or handheld device, while audiobooks are recordings of someone reading a book aloud. Audiobooks are generally more expensive than ebooks, but they can be a great option for people who have trouble reading or who want to multitask while they read.
5 Reasons Why Audiobooks Are Better than Ebooks
1. Multitasking
You can multitask while listening to audiobooks as long as you are not concentrating on an activity that needs you to pay close attention. There is little doubt that audiobooks help busy readers read more, whether they perform home duties, clean, make meals, or commute on their daily commute.
2. Pronunciation
Have you ever found yourself in a scenario where you don’t know how to read or pronounce new terms when reading a book? This is a pretty regular occurrence while reading books. However, audiobooks will never have this issue. The audiobook’s narrator narrates everything to you and therefore instructs you on how to pronounce the words. It is also a significant advantage, particularly for children.
3. Visual Benefit
Audiobooks, by definition, do not need you to look at the book or read it. This is a significant benefit since you can listen to an audiobook while doing nearly anything. Audiobooks are the top option for persons with impaired vision instead of ebooks, which induce eye strain.
4. Better Comprehension
Listening to an audiobook and reading the ebook edition are two separate roads that go to the same place. However, when you read an ebook, you only stare at symbols and may not fully comprehend the material. When you listen to an audiobook, you are far more likely to get the substance of what someone was saying since the narrator reads to you in a dynamic tone.
5. Enjoyment
For many readers, listening to audiobooks is mostly for leisure. What does it imply? People appreciate hearing a voice give them tales. People who listen to audiobooks may multitask while listening to a tale. For example, when traveling, audiobooks allow us to avoid boredom.
5 Reasons Why Ebooks Are Better than Audiobooks
1. Cost-effective
An audiobook is usually more costly than an electronic edition of the same book. Ebooks are inexpensive to create and distribute, making them appealing to writers and publishers. As a result, readers can often get these novels at a significant discount from audiobook editions. Furthermore, free ebook download sites provide much more than free audiobook download sites. You will spend less money if you like reading ebooks.
2. Highlight & Bookmarking
Highlighting and bookmarking ebooks on an eReader, iPad, or ebook reading app is a breeze. It is very simple to navigate the book to identify your highlights and export the notes. This is a significant benefit for ebooks. Although you can bookmark a part in Audible, it’s not as convenient as having an ebook to highlight.
3. Availability
In terms of accessibility, ebooks are the clear victor. Today, an increasing number of book titles are available in ebook format, which may be purchased and downloaded over the internet. However, unlike ebooks, audiobooks must first be made by the narrators. Hence there are currently relatively few titles that have an audiobook edition. You can locate an ebook but not an audiobook for a title on the internet in most circumstances.
4. Easy to Store
Most ebooks needless internal storage than audiobooks. Consider an 8 GB Kindle Paperwhite: an average book size (texts) is roughly 1 MB. Therefore an 8 GB Kindle can hold 8000 such books. Some ebooks may be bigger than 1MB, but they should easily accommodate 2000 to 3000 volumes.
What about listening to audiobooks? An Audible audiobook may consume up to 50 times the space of an ebook. In that instance, an 8GB Kindle can only hold roughly 160 audiobooks. We often remark that we can hold thousands of ebooks on a small device but never audiobooks.
5. Focus
We often listen to audiobooks while multitasking, which implies we are more likely to be distracted by those chores. However, while reading ebooks, we must pay close attention and often lose ourselves in the book’s substance. In this aspect, ebooks are a better option than audiobooks if you will learn anything.
eBooks versus Audiobooks: which Is Best?
Cost
eBooks are often less expensive. While an eBook can generally be purchased for between $1 and $20, most audiobooks start around $10 and may cost up to $30 for something especially hefty.
However, several sites are devoted to making audiobooks more accessible, such as Audible, which provides you a credit for a free audiobook every month, thereby lowering the cost of listening to roughly $15 per book. Furthermore, they often offer discounts where you can acquire audiobooks for as little as $5.
Interestingly, since Audible is part of the Amazon family, you may save a lot of money on audiobooks if you buy the eBook first (Kindle version). It’s another method of making things more inexpensive. You can’t beat an ebook on price when it comes to digital storytelling. Of course, secondhand paperbacks are far less expensive…
Winner: eBooks
Ease of use
We believe audiobooks win because you can push play on your device and listen. Audiobook applications are straightforward and function simply as music players, so it’s as simple as pushing play.
They all remember where you left off reading, so there’s no need to go back and locate your spot or choose chapters. EBooks aren’t difficult to use. It just requires turning on a device and choosing your current read to resume reading an eBook where you left off.
When it comes to locating certain book passages, we will put eBooks and audiobooks on par. Tablets and eReaders take some scrolling to discover certain areas, while audiobooks provide chapter selection and then straightforward tracking to the time required. Neither involves a lot of work. However, since audiobooks are more convenient, they are our winners in this area.
Winner: Audiobooks
Features
This is where things become fascinating, and it boils down to what you want to receive out of your reading. Audiobook apps have features designed to help books adapt to your lifestyle, such as sleep timers to allow you to fall asleep while listening, multiple speeds for when you’re in a hurry, and the ability to listen via smart speakers such as Alexa for when you want to share a story with friends, family, or children.
eBooks are more geared at simulating reading and actual books. You may highlight parts and even take notes in eBooks, making them great for paying attention and learning from a material. Reading is a more active experience that concentrates your attention. Thus, it stands to reason that eBooks are ideal for anybody wishing to interact with a narrative or material actively. However, since audiobooks can fit into most people’s hectic schedules, we will also grant them this award.
Winner: Audiobooks
Storage
When you go digital with your library, storage becomes an issue. There are only so many files that can be stored on any given device. There is a clear winner here: eBooks are much smaller than audiobooks. The typical audiobook is roughly 200-250MB when downloaded from a site like Audible, and if you download a whole library of them, your phone or tablet would quickly fill up.
For instance, eBook files on a device like the Kindle are typically under 3MB in size, making them substantially smaller. It is no surprise that even feature-heavy text files will always be smaller than audio ones. The latest editions of the Kindle Paperwhite offer 8GB of capacity, which means you won’t run out of space very soon. You’ll have around 2500 eBooks on there before you even consider removing any.
Winner: eBooks
Range of books
This is a lot closer than you believe. eBooks are the obvious victor since they include most new releases and classics. Still, they also contain a nearly unlimited amount of fan fiction and self-published eBook material. The options are many. eBooks are unrivaled in terms of volume and discovery.
However, audiobooks are quickly catching up. With over 250,000 audiobooks and counting, Audible has the biggest collection. You may also discover many classic novels on sites like Librivox, which offers a large number of them for free.
Don’t forget about podcasts; most audiobook providers have many unique podcasts to analyze books and share other tales. When you combine all of this, the disparity in choice becomes one of taste and preference rather than volume.
Winner: eBooks (kind of)
FAQ
Are audiobooks better than reading?
However, effective listening is context-dependent.
Listening to an audiobook requires less work and is more convenient for most people, but reading may be beneficial. According to research, whether we listen to an audiobook, read an ebook, or do both, the brain processes information differently.
Are audiobooks more expensive than ebooks?
An audiobook is usually more costly than an electronic or paper edition of the same book. People who began purchasing ebooks are used to paying lower – often much lower – costs than paper copies.
Are audiobooks cheating?
Willingham claims that writing is less than 6,000 years old. Listening to audiobooks is not “cheating,” as some die-hard readers claim. This accusation of cheating might be because audiobook readers eliminate the need to understand intonations, irony, and other linguistic tools that communicate meaning.
Are there any benefits to listening to audiobooks?
Audiobooks may help you enhance your vocabulary and understanding. Hearing new words, whether alone or reading them, may considerably improve comprehension and vocabulary, particularly for children and second-language learners.
Conclusion
The pros and cons of listening to audiobooks vs. reading ebooks are up for debate. Some people find that they can focus more when listening to an audiobook, while others prefer the visuals that come with reading an ebook. There are also differences in price and convenience between the two formats.