[silves89]

Can I read a physical book when I'm running? Can I read a physical book when I'm doing house work? Or throwing pots in my studio? Or knitting? Or cooking? Or driving?

Can I stay focused if I'm just sitting and listening instead of reading? Absolutely not.

There's no 'vs' here. They occupy different spaces. All hail text, whatever form it takes.

[chistev]

How do you listen to audio books when you're engaged in other activities? You'll be distracted and won't get everything. That's important to me.

[BugsJustFindMe]

> How do you listen to audio books when you're engaged in other activities?

The same way you can probably carry a conversation while walking. As long as the other activity doesn't engage the language processing part of the brain there's no conflict. I can't listen while reading, not even small package labels in a grocery store, but I can easily listen while washing dishes or exercising or eating a meal because different sections of the brain are responsible for them and can be active simultaneously.

[Spooks]

The activities are mindless. Cutting grass, shoveling snow, cleaning the house, gardening, painting, and going on a run. Sure, I'll get distracted by something and need to rewind it back in 20 seconds, but that happens in books, and I'll need to re-read a page.

[TroubledTrumpet]

I think it entirely depends on what audiobook you're listening to. If I'm listening to something that's lower complexity or aimed at younger audiences (e.g. The Martian by Andy Weir or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams), I can miss bits and pieces of the narration without losing too much of the story. As long as you don't lose track of several uninterrupted minutes at a time, you'll probably get most of the relevant context. The same applies if I'm in the mood to listen to a story that's already familiar to me, like Lord of the Rings.

It definitely becomes more difficult to multitask with harder reads; which is where I prefer to have a book in hand. I'll have to rewind several times per chapter to catch everything. Though it's still doable for some, I'm sure.

[silves89]

That's a great question! It comes up for me a lot.

I can walk through my local woods and listen very carefully but I don't think I could read a recipe book and pay attention to an audiobook!

So for me and I guess for most people it depends on the intensity of the activity and on the nature of the book. I have gradually found where the balance is for me and I've learned to hit the pause button or rewind 30 seconds.

I also pick different types of books to read and to listen to. I _love_ having an engrossing story as an audiobook. And popular science is a great listen, e.g. I loved the audiobook of Stolen Focus. But with physical books I tend to choose more involved or complex novels (e.g. Deep Wheel Orcadia), poetry, and for non-fiction books that are more specific to my interests (psychotherapy, ceramics).

[542354234235]

It depends on the book and the activity. Not just audiobooks, but I can read a nice fiction book at a busy coffee shop no problem, but I need a controlled quiet environment for a dense, technical read. With audiobooks, I have the mental bandwidth for a fiction book or nontechnical story based non-fiction book. If I’m going for a walk or a light jog, I can listen to a book no problem. If I’m going for a run, I can’t concentrate enough. Vacuuming and other mindless chores are fine, but cooking is too much of a mental load. It isn’t a binary thing, it is just depends on how much mental bandwidth you have vs the book you are consuming.

[51124124]

These type of audio books tends to not be very dense, key points are often re-iterate, the pacing is slow. The type of activities they do are often not very engaging also, e.g.: if they're cooking, it is just a common dish that they already know from memory, not some new recipe they are trying to learn, etc...

[jowea]

A lot of rewinding, books that aren't ultradense non-fiction, and mindless tasks you can do on autopilot.

[constantcrying]

Exactly. Reading and listening are different experiences and the books I read are very different from the books I listen to.

[tigrezno]

and books occupy physical space, something I can't afford on my tiny apartment

[constantcrying]

I have hundreds of books in the size of paperback. E-readers are great for reading, I wouldn't want to go back.