Ask HN: Do you prefer reading or listening?

4 points·Louistiti··7 comments

- Do you prefer reading or listening?

- In which context would you prefer one instead of the other?

- Why?

Reading, usually. Even if I speed up audiobooks I have to pause them to let my thoughts wander off for a minute with a new idea. Reading happens exactly at the pace of my brain, while audio and video are controlled by something else. I have a fairly wander-y mind and I often zone out when someone speaks at me for more than a minute at a time.

I assume you are referring to audiobooks?

Definitely reading as it enables you to go at your own pace, skip back a few words if you didn't catch a meaning, or stop and stare out of the window for a few seconds.

Also the reader of an audiobook imposes their own interpretation of the text whereas if you read there is nothing between you and the author.

You can sort of do these things with an audiobook but it's fiddly.

Thanks for your reply! How about shorter resources than audiobook such as an article or literature work with a total listening duration of about 10 minutes?

Reading. Always. I absorb information so much more effectively via text. Audio is too slow and too easy to inadvertently tune out.

Thanks for replying! What if you were able to speedup the audio a bit?

Still too easy to tune out; too difficult to go backwards in; impossible to skim.

Personally I just retain it much more poorly under the best of circumstances, and stop paying attention at all for minutes at a time under the worst.

But other people have the opposite experience. Depends on who your audience is.

But if I’m part of your audience, please provide transcripts or I’ll just navigate away.

Alright, thanks for sharing.

Feel free to join the upcoming launch list: https://www.producthunt.com/upcoming/2aud-io

Reply on news.ycombinator.com