Audiobooks

Audiobooks are designed to be listened to rather than read. When first introduced, the books came on mulitple tapes, leading to the creation of abridged versus unabridged versions of the book; with the abridged versions, listeners would have fewer tapes to manage. As CD became the dominant format, audiobooks moved to this more reliable form.

In the era of MP3, companies such as Audible.com provide a large library of titles in audio format. The rise of players such as the iPod make it easier than ever for listeners to catch up on their reading while doing other activities such as exercising or driving.