Saturday, April 19, 2003

 
NOTES FROM ONE OF THOSE LAZY TTS NUTS.
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I'm the "one of those lazy TTS nuts" referred to by Dav C. fascinating the author of this blog article. TTS stands for text-to-speech, and in this case, it refers to my preference to have a computer voice read an article to me on my MP3 player, instead of sitting in front of the computer reading it.

To answer the author's questions, he's hit the nail on the head exactly. The two reasons why I prefer listening to books on tape to reading them are first and foremost, that it allows me to do two things at once, so that I can "read" while I am walking or cooking or shopping or exercising or what have you. And second, because listening is more natural and intuitive way of getting information. Numerous studies have shown that people are better at retaining facts that they hear than facts that they read. Understanding spoken language is something we are genetically wired to do, without having to practice or be formally taught. Reading is an artificial invention that you have to learn and study.

On this last point, I always find it striking when people tell me they aren't interested in books on tape, because they would nostalgically miss the old-fashioned feel of holding a book and turning the pages. Of course, these people have it exactly backwards. Books are the new technology, and story-telling is the lost and dying art.

This is The Official Record. 3:46 PM
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/04/notes-from-one-of-those-lazy-tts-nuts.html


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