Audible ~ Official Review by csimmons032

[zeldas_lullaby]

I have a question. As someone who is half deaf (and you wouldn't believe how often I accidentally type "half dead"), do the readers speak clearly and enunciate?

[Nicki18229]

You did great review of Audible, I have heard of it before it's advertised on some of the podcast I listen and some of the podcast talked about how they tried it out but did not do good as job as you did. Sadly Audible is not for me I'm not into audio book I've tired one them one to get into them, second I'm not wanting to pay 14.95 month to have sub to it. It's nice that you get free book every month and can use your credits to get it. To those that this is for I will say this is great thing.

[csimmons032]

zeldas_lullaby, in my opinion, I did find the reader to talk clearly. She didn't read to fast and she spoke in a way that's easy to understand. I am sorry to hear about your situation, it must be really difficult. Other people might have a different opinion, but I think that the reader did really well.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Thanks for the info!

Yeah, being half-deaf is a pain! I was born that way, though, so it's not a great tragedy. No one even noticed the problem until I intuited it myself at the age of nineteen. ("Is life supposed to be this quiet?") Oddly enough, I mispronounce a lot of words that I learned to pronounce by reading instead of by hearing. Like, VAIR-tee-go instead of vertigo. Plus, I had to go to speech class for three years in later elementary, similarly because I couldn't hear well enough to imitate certain phonemes, like /ch/. I got hearing aids at nineteen and wore them for years, but now it's a conscious choice on my part to be half-deaf, because the hearing aids give me a headache. Artificial sound just hurts, no matter the brand and no matter the adjustment. And I figure anyone who really matters won't mind speaking up for me.

[csimmons032]

I completely understand zeldas_lullaby. It is already hard enough to deal with something like that, and being uncomfortable would just make it a lot worse. My grandmother doesn't have great hearing and she doesn't like the hearing aids either. She says they hurt her ears. She's not exactly deaf, but you do have talk louder to her for her to be able to understand. I think that's why she prefers reading to watching tv. When she does watch tv, she does closed captioning. It sounds like you have coped with your situation very well. I love it when people don't let anything set them back. It's always so inspiring. I am happy that you didn't let this get you down. Like you said, at least it was never a huge adjustment, considering you were born that way. I would imaging that it would be much more difficult if just happened out of the blue.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Thank you! OMG, I do try to not let stuff get me down! This may sound silly, but one of my favorite literary role models is Pollyanna. In my situation, she would play the "glad game" and be happy that she was born with it rather than being struck with it, like I am glad about that! Pollyanna once got a set of crutches from the mission instead of the doll she wanted. Aunt Polly said, "What could you have found about that to be glad about?"

"That I didn't need the crutches, of course." (Not verbatim--going on my memory.)

I do see the good in it. For example, when I visit my mom, she puts the news on. I hate the news, and I hate commercials (which I always put in mute), but when I'm visiting her, I don't want to control her household, ya know? But with my hearing loss, I can't make out a word of it on her low volume setting!

I always have the closed captions on. I can hear the set just fine volume-wise (turned up way louder than anyone else would turn it), but articulation-wise, there's some slurring of sounds. Tell your grandma that I agree with her about the hearing aids. She might get a kick out of that. Thanks for the support and admiration!!

[csimmons032]

Your welcome zeldas_lullaby and that actually does make sense to me. It's better to make something good out of a bad situation. I actually don't care for commercials either, most of them are annoying lol. I will definitely tell my grandmother that. Your right, she will get a kick out of that At least she's not the only one. So what type of books do you like? Do you have a favorite author, or do you have more than one?

[zeldas_lullaby]

I'll PM you and tell you about my fave authors!

[gatorgirl_823]

I didn't know Amazon Prime members could get a free book credit for Audible every month? Cool, I might have to check it out now! Thanks for reviewing!

[Beth Davids]

I love audio books because it makes my housework less burdensome. And it's definitely a nice companion while driving. I wouldn't just curl up on the couch and listen to an audio book however. And I don't care for audio books were the reader has no idea how to read a book.

[KingOfTheAce]

Great review. I am glad, above anything, that this service exists for blind people. I've never even tried an audio book and don't think I'd like one. But I'm glad the option is out there!

I prefer reading over listening books any time, but my dyslectic friend finds audiobooks handy. I have heard a lot of good points for listening, but I dont drive a car or have any condition that impares my ability to read. But indeed. It is good that there is an option!

[csimmons032]

To gatorgirl_823, Beth Davids, and KingOfTheAce. Thank you for taking the time to look over my review. I am glad that you enjoyed it. Audible would definitely be a good thing to use when you are doing housework. Unfortunately, we can't exactly hold a book in our hands and dust at the same time lol. This is also a good thing for people with dyslexia as well. If you have issues with reading in general, then I highly suggest Audible. Thanks again for checking out my review.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Dyslexia... I didn't even think of that! Perfect, a solution for every problem!

[KingOfTheAce]

Dyslexia... I didn't even think of that! Perfect, a solution for every problem!

Luckily that is true! When you live around people with impairments, you notice how they cope with it. An audiobook is a great solution for Dyslectic people .

[csimmons032]

I feel like I should let every one know that responded to this review, that my dad was still charged even though I cancelled the account over a month ago. This still doesn't change my opinions of the service, but I just wanted to warn you that if you start it and don't like it, it might be difficult to quit. It's not impossible, but just be careful with it. Aside from that, I still enjoyed Audible.