fixed attention spans required
I probably would have posted more if I hadn't been at Lunacon all weekend and thus taken all my usual lj time just catching up on everyone else's posts.
However, the concept of audioposts, audiobooks, mp3 files, and to a lesser degree, radio talk shows and television programs all found their way into my brain, and finally, a coherent reason for why I am less than enamored with them popped out: they all require the consumer (listener, viewer, reader, whatever you want to call me) to ingest/experience/enjoy the product at a specific speed for a specific length of time. I don't really like that so much. I'm much happier with printed text, which I can read for as long as I like, as quickly as I like, and with which I can jump back a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a page (or some odd fraction of such just as easily) at my leisure, if I didn't get it or need amplification.
Also, to a lesser degree, I've somehow been trained to get audio input nearly continually, but frequently as background. When I'm reading something (using the eyes), I can also get audio input (music, usually) as a background. Ditto with television, or working with my hands. but when I'm listening to something (using the ears as the primary sense organ), I find it difficult to just sit there and listen, turning off the eyes and hands (or not getting so swept up in what I am doing with the eyes and hands that I forget I'm focusing on the ears).
Maybe it's just me; maybe it's you, too. But I guess audiobooks are never going to be very big with me (and that's why I get so impatient with YouTube videos: if it's more than a few seconds, it better be really good to keep me from wanting to skim through it). And that's why I find myself watching less television (or doing something else while I'm watching).
What do you think?
However, the concept of audioposts, audiobooks, mp3 files, and to a lesser degree, radio talk shows and television programs all found their way into my brain, and finally, a coherent reason for why I am less than enamored with them popped out: they all require the consumer (listener, viewer, reader, whatever you want to call me) to ingest/experience/enjoy the product at a specific speed for a specific length of time. I don't really like that so much. I'm much happier with printed text, which I can read for as long as I like, as quickly as I like, and with which I can jump back a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a page (or some odd fraction of such just as easily) at my leisure, if I didn't get it or need amplification.
Also, to a lesser degree, I've somehow been trained to get audio input nearly continually, but frequently as background. When I'm reading something (using the eyes), I can also get audio input (music, usually) as a background. Ditto with television, or working with my hands. but when I'm listening to something (using the ears as the primary sense organ), I find it difficult to just sit there and listen, turning off the eyes and hands (or not getting so swept up in what I am doing with the eyes and hands that I forget I'm focusing on the ears).
Maybe it's just me; maybe it's you, too. But I guess audiobooks are never going to be very big with me (and that's why I get so impatient with YouTube videos: if it's more than a few seconds, it better be really good to keep me from wanting to skim through it). And that's why I find myself watching less television (or doing something else while I'm watching).
What do you think?