Talking eBooks?
Give an old geyser a computer and some new software and you never know what will happen next. Well - I've been thinking about this for a while. I love audio books if they are well done. In fact, I like making them. They bring a new sense of drama to the story that can't be achieved by the printed word alone.It's quite an adventure to make an audio book. It forces the narrator's focus right into the story and before he knows it, he's caught up in the adventure. You should hear the abuse my poor microphone has to put up with as I yell at it in some of Winnetou's escapades, and the next moment I whisper that the Kiowa are sneaking up on him. It's quite hilarious even to me since I seem to have a third ear that can listen to what I sound like.
And I'm not the only one who has thought about this. A number of book publishers want to do this sort of thing, but can't figure out how to justify the man hours needed to put out a credible product. So they try to use all this fancy technology of text to voice, thinking that they've produced an audio book. Well, I don't want to be unkind, but until they find a way to put a human heart and spirit into such technology, they might as well save themselves the trouble.
Having said all that, I've finall figured out how to post some of the shorter things on Youtube, and that's what I did. These are two of the Wisakadjak stories I've posted before, but you might find them interesting in this format. To hear/see them click on the following links:
I would really like to hear comments from my friends, especially overseas. You can email me directly at vepp@mts.net
