[Arrowmaster]

The last bit of this comes off as a very snobbish attitude. There are many people that used to enjoy reading but have found it harder to do the sitting down and actually reading part. Audiobooks becoming wildly more accessible over the past few decades has allowed people to consume books in situations they normally would not. I got back into reading when I found myself at a job that I averaged more than 10 hours a week commuting too. I know other people that listen to audiobooks while doing their homework or mowing the lawn.

Listening to audiobooks is still 'reading'. It's very uncommon to get abridged auto books now, so every word is still being consumed. It's just a difference in which sense you are using to consume it.

[asdf6969]

It’s not reading. Consuming is a better way to put it. Just like how the radio is not a newspaper and twitch streams aren’t gaming.

You get a very different experience with text compared to audio and it changes how the book is written. You can tell the author was trying to make an audio book. Like how TV TV and Netflix TV are very different because they have to conform to their format. The best written books are often ones where I find myself slowing down, rereading, or doing research in the middle and none of this is possible if my hands are occupied.