When it comes to books, I am very much a traditionalist; being a librarian helps. As does studying art history, because I've taken no fewer than four classes in which I had to study the history of books and printing. I own far more books than is necessary, and I always have a stack of at least two or three library books at a time (that doesn't count cookbooks). That said, I am not one of those people who complains about technology moving too fast and whatnot. As much as librarians tends to love books, they have to love computers even more, because that is what the job requires these days. I have an iPhone, it is with me always, and I use it for almost everything, so it seemed time to embrace the audio book, especially since I have a job that is conducive to headphones.
Prior to downloading the Audible app, my only audio book experience was with CDs from the public library. As a result, I only listened to audio books in my car. This was great back when I had a long commute; as much as I hated being stuck in the car, I got through Bill Clinton's memoir in about a week. But CDs skip and you have to open the case while you drive with your knees when you have to switch discs and now I have a very short commute. Plus, I already use my iPhone for music and radio, so why not audio books as well?
I started with one of those freebies from the App Store. These are fine if you want the audio book of out-of-copyright classics, and if you aren't too picky about the audio and voice quality. This is how I got through Uncle Tom's Cabin, and I really liked the app, until I finally started paying for audio books, and now I can't go back because the free stuff sounds terrible.
So. Audible. You download the app. But don't get too excited, because you can't do anything on the app-- you have to use the web site to actually search and make purchases--then the books magically appear in your app. It costs $15 per month, which seemed steep to me, but now I use it enough that I don't think about it, although I kind of think it should just be rolled into Amazon Prime membership because that would certainly increase its user base. The $15 gets you a free book every month however, which is pretty great deal, especially because it's offered in the form of a credit which can be applied to any book, regardless of price or popularity. That's how I managed to "read" Not That Kind of Girl and Yes,Please within a day or two of their respective publications. There are a lot of "features" with Audible, but honestly I never use them or pay any attention to them.
I still don't really consider myself to be an audio book person, and if I wasn't under the pressure of producing content for a book blog five days a week, I probably would stop paying for Audible. Certainly if you are the type of person who enjoys audio books (or who can't manage to read a book any other way), it's a great option.