Audiobooks are not exactly new as a concept. They have been around since 1932, when vinyl-recording versions were made available by the American Foundation for the Blind. Although, the evolution of technology has increased the capability to store large amounts of data on a hand-held device. This means we can carry as many books as we want on the go without the hassle or added weight of actually carrying the physical copies of the books. There are numerous other benefits to carrying audiobooks but is it cheating?
It all really comes down to your own personality and preferences. If you are part of a book club, where other members have spent the time to sit down and read the book, but you have instead listened to it while cooking or cleaning the house, have you cheated? You may actually have benefitted from analysing the opportunity cost and killing two birds with one stone, by multitasking, but it really depends on the individual. Some people love to sit with a book and really take it in, at their own pace. They like to digest each page and reflect on each chapter. With an audiobook, you are more of a passive individual, with the information being read to you and sometimes it can be difficult to take it all in. It is similar to listening to a lecture in university, most people, excluding the lazy minority, will take notes so that they can go home and read them. On the other hand, if you have not taken notes, you will have to try and recollect from memory. This is a bit more difficult, unless you are like Nikola Tesla, who had a photographic memory. If your personal preference is to listen to a book, there is a chance that avid readers of books may sneer at you, or feel you have cheapened the experience of the book.
Researchers do tend to agree with people who prefer to read, in that, people learn better visually, then they do by listening. That means it really depends on the content of the book. If you are trying to learn about history, then you are better off actually sitting with the book and taking it in, as you may need to re-read certain parts. This is easier to do with a physical copy of the book as you can note down page numbers. With an audiobook, you are just given a percentage of how much of the book you have read, which makes it difficult to pinpoint where you were in the book.
One huge difference between traditional books and e-books is that if you are reading it yourself, you are the narrator in your own head, as opposed to audiobooks where you actually have someone narrating it with the correct tone, accents, and intonations. Sometimes, the author themselves narrates the book which can be fun for the listener, especially if it is an actor or a comedian. They have the power to really capture your attention using their specialised voice skills. Therefore, it really is not cheating to listen to an audiobook and in certain cases it can even be more compelling. It all really comes down to your whims and fancies.
