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Audio Book Formats, let's pick the format that best suits your needs.Audio book formats started out in a very simple world but has steadily progressed into the complex digital world we live in today. It seems every few years another format gets introduced as technology rages onward into the uncertain but quickly changing future. Just the other day we came across yet another new format that is being introduced to audio books, but more on that later.
What are the most common audio book formats used today...
Lets start at the top with the audio book format still being used today, audio books on tape. Other synonyms for audio books on tape are:
Audio books on tape have been enjoyed for several years.Books on audio tape were found to be very reliable and introduced a higher audio quality in the 1980's (wow, that seems like yesterday). They are played on small cassette tape players, portable walkmans, in dash cassette players for vehicles and those big ghetto blasters. But now, purchasing audio books on tape offer a lower audio quality (as compared to the other audio book formats available today) so the other available audiobook formats are preferred today, especially if you are just getting started with audio books for the first time. But do not throw out your audio book on tape collection, you can easily convert audiobook tapes to CD. We do understand though that there are people who just like familiarity. Maybe you grew up listening to books on tape and this is the audio book format you like. Can you believe there are people who still listen to music on those old LP vinyl records? These are the true music aficionados, and the same applies to talking audiobooks on tape. View our recommended Audio Books on Tape sources. With anything that is good, something else better eventually comes along.Let's enter into the digital computer age with audio books on CD (compact disc). This audio book format not only came in to replace music on vinyl records, movies on VHS tapes but also books on audio tape. Remember those old 45's that definitely had their own sound? Snap, crackle and pop.... (Hey is that where Rice Krispies got their slogan from?)
Well CD's definitely showed us the way to a cleaner, crisper and a truer digital audio product. They also allow us to store greater amounts of content on them. 
Just like the cassette tape, CD's also have many types of CD playing devices as well. Portable, hand held players allowed us to take our audio books on CD anywhere we are going. Vehicles quickly had in dash CD players and our stereo systems and computers quickly adapted to this new format style. Take a look at our suggested sources for CD players if you need a new one.
Now it seems CD's are just a normal part of our lives including audio books. Publishers quickly made the change over to CD's due to the cheaper cost of production, higher digital audio quality and larger storage capabilities. It just made sense, but they also realized that there would still be a demand for audio books on tape. This is why you find both formats available at all major audio book clubs for both retail and rentals. View our recommended Audio Books on CD sources.
Technology takes audio books one step further... MP3 audio books.MP3 audio book formats come in two versions, MP3 downloadable audio book and MP3 audio books on CD. MP3 is a type of compression format that takes a certain amount of information such as an audio book and compresses it to a smaller unit. This way a greater amount of an audio book can be placed onto a CD, therefore allowing for fewer CD's for each talking audio book.
MP3 compression also made it easier and faster for audio book downloads as the size of audio book MP3 files are a lot smaller. This was a blessing for those who have dial up modems bringing the internet to their computers. So you will find these MP3 audio book formats with most of the retailers but they are also very popular with the audio book rental clubs. They allow smaller files to download in faster times or smaller amounts of CD's required and are cheaper to mail to their customers. View our recommended online downloadable audio book sites and the online sites that offer Audio Books on CD. The future is hear!(don't try to eat one)Recently we came across another audio book format, these are called audio book chips. This new format introduction just makes sense for publisher, retailer, audio book club rentals and most importantly you the customer.
These audio book chips are actual audio books on SD cards (Secure Digital Card). You maybe familiar with SD cards being used for digital cameras. Well now they are also being used to hold audio books, you can use a computer, PDA (personal digital assistant) or MP3 player that has the SD slot to enjoy this new format of audio book. So once again technology is taking all things in the forward motion. View our Audio Book Chip sources now!
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