The idea of audio books have been around for a long time. Back before podcasts of books, there were even vinyl recordings of books, especially made for the blind and other people with reading disabilities. The progress made through the years allowed books to be "made to read" as these books progressed from records to tapes and now finally to podcasts among other things. The collection of audio books is quite extensive. Aside from assisting people with reading disabilities to "read" a book, the audio books have opened the door for people who are engaged in driving to and from work or who are taking a long trip, to read a book via audio. As a result, the future of the audio books virtually ensured, not just because it has been around seemingly forever, but also because it continues to be popular to a fairly large audience. The podcasts, just to mention one, continue to make the audio popular. Listening to audio books have become easier as well through the MP3 player, itunes, and even the three G smart phone. As a result one could listen to a book while exercising on a treadmill, running, or walking if one were so inclined.
The ebook also continues to grow as well. When one examines the extensive holdings that are not only available in ebook format currently but also to those books that are in the process of being converted as an ebook, the idea of both the audio book and the ebook of being around for a long time is virtually ensured.
Ebooks are certainly the wave of the future and it will have a profound effect on the literary scene as it relates to copyright and publication. I like the idea of ebook if for no other reason that it could have a major impact on the environment. I find it somewhat amusing that the old cliche has been changed from "save a tree; kill a beaver" to "save a tree; buy an ebook." Whether or not Kindle or the other ereaders will be the most popular tool to read these ebooks remain open to question. In many respects, the smart phone could possibly be the tool that will enable ebooks to continue to advance and spread in popularity. Another aspect that I find exciting about ebooks is not necessarily the total number of ebooks that are available, but also the number of ebooks that are available in a foreign language. While not every ebook is available in all foreign languages, they are available in the most popular ones. The idea of making ebooks available in all foreign languages is largely a void at this point, but the idea of making ebooks available in all languages is an admirable goal and will provide ebooks room for expansion for many years to come.
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