How can I give audiobooks to someone with no "smart" tech?

November 25, 2022 1:21 PM

My father finds it physically uncomfortable to read books. He has said that he's really enjoyed the books-on-CD that I've bought him in the past. Books-on-CD, however, are expensive and there's not a huge selection, and I'd love to get him something like an Audible subscription so he can stream books he wants to listen to. However, he does not have (and refuses to get) a smart phone, and he does not have anything "smart" in his house. He listens to the books-on-CD in his car, which is new enough it probably has Bluetooth. He has a laptop, and I think he has wireless but I'm not actually certain. I'm not physically near him to set up any new equipment, and he probably would not do it himself. Is there any reasonable subscription or equipment I could buy him that would let him listen to books?
posted by lapis to Technology (25 answers total)

This is not a great answer for gifting, but if he has a library card there are tons of books-on-CD available at public libraries.
posted by radioamy at 1:29 PM on November 25, 2022 [10 favorites]

On the library angle, if he's in the U.S.A. or a citizen, could look into The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, eligibility includes "unable to read or unable to use standard printed material as a result of physical limitations"
posted by readinghippo at 1:47 PM on November 25, 2022 [4 favorites]

One more on the library side--if you live near a decent-sized public library, there's a good chance that they are currently reducing the size of their book-on-CD collections (demand is way down, and replacement costs are getting unsustainable), and a chance that these former library CDs are making their way to a sale shelf at a library store or book sale for pennies on the dollar.
posted by box at 1:56 PM on November 25, 2022 [4 favorites]

Is there a reason he can’t listen on the laptop? It looks like Google Play can play audiobooks via browser. The Libby app used by many libraries also does.
posted by Comet Bug at 2:19 PM on November 25, 2022 [5 favorites]

He doesn't want a smartphone, but how about a smartphone disguised as an audiobook player? Buy a cheap $50 smartphone at WalMart, put the Libro.fm app on it, and add a subscription to Libro.fm, so he can download books. Don't activate the phone, it'll work just fine as a cheap handheld computer with wifi set up on it..
posted by COD at 2:21 PM on November 25, 2022 [6 favorites]

Sorry if this is not the sort of thing you meant, but you could buy him digital audiobooks, burn them to CDs, and send them to him. You might also ask him how he feels about non-smart MP3 players, which can come at varying levels of low-techness. If you do go that route, make sure there are decent reviews about their use for audiobooks. Some of them aren't great about maintaining correct file order, or picking up where you left off (although I'd guess that's an issue with CDs too).
posted by trig at 2:25 PM on November 25, 2022 [2 favorites]

I'd get one of these:

> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HCMZ2SE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

And get a bunch of book recordings, either in MP3 format, or convert them -- this may not be possible for all books, but it's a start.

There will be a bunch available from librivox for free, for example, but not current books -- just older ones and classics.

Anyway, you put the MP3s on the little MP3 player, charge it, and mail him that. If you want to be super fancy, include a self-addressed stamped box for him to mail it back to you when he's done.
posted by amtho at 2:27 PM on November 25, 2022

(Also not what you asked, but depending on what part of reading physical books is uncomfortable for him, e-ink ebook readers (like the non-tablet kindle or kobo) might solve that problem for him: they're light, you can make the font as big as you need to, you don't have to hold pages down, they're flat so you can easily prop them up on a stand, and you can put them in a cover or case with grips or straps that make holding them easier.)
posted by trig at 2:29 PM on November 25, 2022 [4 favorites]

Would your father be more open to some new technology if he had a tech concierge to help him get set up and provide some coaching?

Then you might be able to get him a very simple smart speaker like a Google Home Mini that he could use with an audible subscription.
posted by brookeb at 2:41 PM on November 25, 2022 [2 favorites]

You might check out secondhand Playaways, which are little preloaded single-purpose audio player devices primarly sold to libraries with a simple interface and a standard headphone jack. They're surprisingly expensive new ($60-80, presumably most of which is licensing), but they've been around long enough that there are plenty on the secondhand market, and can be as cheap as $2-8 if you buy them in lots. Older ones may need a new battery, which is apparently just a standard AAA. You may run into the same limited selection problem you're seeing with CDs, especially used, but there are tens of thousands of titles currently in production, and presumably more available secondhand.
posted by pullayup at 2:42 PM on November 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: His limitation is mostly mobility with his hands, not so much eyesight. I'm concerned about MP3-player type stuff because of that, too. Large-buttoned things designed for people with low-vision often help, but mostly because of the large buttons.
posted by lapis at 2:51 PM on November 25, 2022

Best answer: I think a tablet might work well, especially if you could do the set up first and then send it to him. You can change the icon size to be larger, and I find on the larger screen they are spaced out enough to help with hand mobility issues (you dont have to be very precise to hit the right icon). You could also remove all unwanted icons and set up the icon for audible (and/or other apps) to be front and center on the home screen. And you can set up his audible subscription so all he has to do is navigate the app and select books.
posted by CleverClover at 3:55 PM on November 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

If he can use a laptop comfortably, I think you can listen to many audiobooks from the library or even from Audible.com straight from a web browser.

If I'm understanding the parameters, he doesn't WANT a smartphone but just doesn't HAVE anything else "smart" in the house. If it's a question of not wanting anything smart, this won't help. But if it's just a question of not HAVING anything smart -- you could get him a fairly inexpensive "Echo" from Amazon, which he could then operate with his voice to get any audiobook available from Audible. It's as easy as "Alexa, play The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells."
posted by invincible summer at 3:56 PM on November 25, 2022

Best answer: It sounds to me like part of the answer is someone willing to help a little. I listen to a ton of audio books through Audible, Hoopla, and Libby. All three are available on the web so he wouldn't need a smart device. Audible is of course a commercial service and they usually ask a fee per month, though I believe you can also pay per book if you want. Audible is owned by Amazon and they also have the Kindle app and audiobooks available through that. I would be remiss in not pointing out that Barnes and Noble also has an online store and will happily sell you audiobooks, as will Apple, Walmart, and a host of other shops if you put in a little time to look.
Both Hoopla, and Libby are free apps that offer books through your local library, or in fact any library that has a collection of e and audiobooks and are willing to give you a card. Hoopla is more directed to audiobooks, and video media, though they now also carry comics. I have noticed, at the same library, my hoopla account will have more audio offerings than my Libby account. The big however here is that Hoopla only allows you to connect to ONE library. Libby will allow you to connect multiple accounts at different libraries. It may be worth your while to shop around and find a library with the largest offerings on hoopla for your area.
Another thing to think about is that your computer will read ebooks, articles and most printed matter aloud. Both Apple & windows computers do this, and I'm pretty sure chrome and certain flavors of linux will as well.
Also many of the audio outlets (Apple Music, Pandora, etc) make it easy for you to subscribe to podcasts, which cover the map in terms of subject matter, and may have many hours of backlogs, to give you an idea, last January I listened to one on British history which was incredibly rich and in depth. It also had been around for over a decade and the backlog of shows was truly amazing.
Oh, there are also accessibility options built into modern computers, and tablets that would allow your dad to access many things on his computer much more easily, (larger on screen buttons, ability to take voice commands) though they would need to be set up and he would probably need to practice using them.
Out of pure laziness I'm going to stop here. Let me know if you need any more information about anything I mentioned.
posted by evilDoug at 4:08 PM on November 25, 2022

There are some generations of Kindle which can play audiobooks. That plus some earphones and you could buy the books for him and they'd download automatically.
posted by signal at 4:14 PM on November 25, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Well I feel a bit silly, YES, there are devices that would make this simple, and today is the day to jump. Get Dad a either a kindle or a Fire tablet (or you could go for nook, through barnes and noble) They are set up to make consumption of e and audiobooks simple. Being black friday it's the perfect day to get one.
posted by evilDoug at 4:15 PM on November 25, 2022

Get the books on CD out from your library, then copy the CD and give him the copy.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:21 PM on November 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

Extremely low-tech would be to buy him a $100 CD player with built-in speakers, plus a subscription to BookLender (mailed audiobook CD loans). He could also potentially get audiobook CDs at his library.
posted by xo at 4:30 PM on November 25, 2022 [5 favorites]

If his car is recent enough to have Bluetooth, would it also have satellite radio?

Because there are many Audible books on XM satellite radio.
posted by jamjam at 6:28 PM on November 25, 2022

For CDs, the easiest thing would be to buy a cd player that would plug into the laptop. $20-$25. He could listen with earphone or thru the laptop speaker. Windows Media Player will play the media. The overall experience is similar to listening in the car.

We download audio content via, Amazon and Hoopla.

For me, the hardest part of buying more elaborate equipment is figuring out exactly what features a given box has since the advertising text is all written with assumptions about context that may not apply to me, or to your Dad.
posted by SemiSalt at 7:29 PM on November 25, 2022

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! He uses the laptop but really as a desktop, so it's not someplace he generally comfortably sits and listens to things. The idea of getting him a tablet hadn't occurred to me, and I appreciated the reminder that this weekend is good for finding deals. I'm having a tablet shipped to me so that I can set it up in ways that will make is user-friendlier, and maybe I'll see if I can get him a library card while I'm at it so he can use Hoopla and Libby.
posted by lapis at 9:12 AM on November 26, 2022

It would be illegal to sign up for a subscription, but then just torrent the books and burn the mp3s to a CD which his car would almost 100% be able to play. Arguably less illegal than the suggestions of getting them from the library and ripping them, but without about 40 extra steps.
posted by Iteki at 12:31 PM on November 26, 2022

When you get the tablet, one suggestion for setting it up is to go ahead and register it under your own (Amazon|Apple|Google|MS) account and treat it as your device that happens to live in his house, rather than having “his” separate account even if you would have full access to it. In my experience this will save a lot of hassles down the line.
posted by staggernation at 1:08 PM on November 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

When you get the tablet, one suggestion for setting it up is to go ahead and register it under your own (Amazon|Apple|Google|MS) account

Hmm, personally I'd create all new accounts (but keep all the passwords for so I can access them on my own). I would not want a device that interacts with my personal accounts to live somewhere where I can't control who accesses it or whether they're exposed to anything meant for me.

lapis, has your dad ever used any kind of touchscreen device? Sometimes people (especially older people) have a hard time getting their touch to register, and even if it gets better with practice, they might need someone to help them out (and motivate them) in the early days.

If you're setting up an Android device and feel like the default UI is too complicated, there are a lot of alternative launchers you can use (these are basically the user interface that you see and interact with on the homescreen and so on), some of which might be easier to use. (There are a few specifically intended for older people, but I didn't have great luck with them last time I tried, which admittedly was a while ago.) The default UI does let you remove any icons you want from the home screens, which is helpful. You might also want to go through all the settings - I do mean all of them - and try to turn off as many unnecessary notifications, noises, and other UI elements as possible. If he's like people I know using these things for the first time, it can be intimidating enough to have to deal with a new interface; dealing with random notifications and beeps and so on on top of it is just an extra level of intimidation and anxiety-producing disorientation.

Another small suggestion: get him a spare USB charger or two (and cables). So he doesn't feel like the tablet can only live in one place, and can easily charge it from his bedroom, living room, etc.
posted by trig at 1:40 PM on November 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

Hmm, personally I'd create all new accounts (but keep all the passwords for so I can access them on my own). I would not want a device that interacts with my personal accounts to live somewhere where I can't control who accesses it or whether they're exposed to anything meant for me.

Right, I guess I should have clarified the purpose of my suggestion—the point is not that it’s literally the same account as you use yourself, but that you own the account under which the device is registered, such that 1) all communications from the vendor via email or text come directly to you, and 2) any MFA that’s involved is set up on a device of yours rather than the target device.

Basically, you don’t want to be relying on your non-tech-savvy elderly relative to notice and pass along a “bill overdue” notification, needing to talk them through getting and entering a security code for something, etc.
posted by staggernation at 6:52 AM on November 28, 2022