There is just no question about the popularity of audio books on CD and also in digital formats. More and more, people enjoy making the most of their time by plugging in “books on tape,” as they were called a couple decades ago. Today, it might be more appropriate to call them “books on iPod” in this era when the iPods have had such an impact on the digital media industry. But, no matter what format people are looking for they will also often have choices in terms of buying abridged or unabridged audio book titles.

There are many people who don’t realized that they might want to look for the unabridged audio book version when they were buying a new audio book, but had simply bought whatever was featured or listed as the most popular for that particular title. In fact, a very good percentage of all audio books on the shelves of bookstores or available as audio book downloads are actually the abridged version and many people purchase them without even realizing that fact. Still, the question remains, what is the real difference between the two types of audio books on sale?

An unabridged audio book will contain a word for word recording of the entire book, as published by the author. Abridged audio book volumes, however, have been edited. Sometimes these edited, or abridged versions, are done by the author, or with their guidance, while in other instances the publisher who bought the rights to the work will edit it as they please.

What this means is that an abridged work, whether in the form of a printed book, an electronic ebook, or an audio book on CD or MP3, does not contain the complete and original work of the author. An unabridged audio book, on the other hand, will be read by the author or by a voice-over artist and every single word in the volume will be recorded as the audio book. Therefore, the unabridged version will be as close to the original message and intent of the author as one can possibly get without inviting the author over for a personal reading.

This may bring up the question, why would anyone buy anything except an unabridged audio book? There are many reasons for this, but the primary reason is to make the recording shorter. This allows the listener to listen to the audio book in less time and when dealing with very long tomes, this can be a great benefit if time is short and if the listener simply wants to be able to get the gist or the highlights of the book by listening to a shortened audio version.

One reason people seek out the shorter, abridged versions of audio books on CD is so that they can use them as a review of material that they have already read. This can be helpful to students preparing for exams, or to a business man preparing for a presentation based on a certain book, or even just to enjoy a quick refresher of a favorite novel.

But, there are a lot of people who simply feel that they are going to miss an element of the original that is important to understanding the full story, if they get the abridged recording. In that case, the unabridged audio book will be the better choice and will help the listener to relax and simply soak in the recording with the assurance that they are not missing a thing.

With the way that the internet has really taken off and has expanded beyond what most people ever expected, there have been some major shifts in a number of industries, as well as brand new industries that have cropped up seemingly overnight. At the same time, media has become widely “digitized” and consumers can access many types of digital products. Audio book store websites are evidence of these changes.

Nowadays, anyone who has an internet connection and a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a WiFi enabled PDA, has easy and convenient access to a mind-boggling selection of MP3 audio book titles that are available from any number of audio book store websites. With the growth in popularity of audio book downloads and being able to listen to all kinds of books — from classics, to brand new releases, to obscure niche topics — as audio recordings, there is no doubt that this is going to be a strong and flourishing industry for the foreseeable future.

Most of the audio book store websites that can be found have an extremely wide selection of topics to choose from. You can download MP3 audio book titles from just about every category, from fiction, to biographies, to business, to self-improvement, to brand new audio book releases from bestselling authors.

One of the reasons why audio books on all kinds of topics have become so popular is that many people consider that time wasted is the same as opportunity wasted. When stuck in a car for an hour or two every day while commuting to and from work, there’s a great deal of time that can be put to better use and listening to audio books while commuting can turn the car into a university on wheels. People have been known to make amazing improvements in their lives just by taking advantage of all the learning that they can take advantage of through listening to audio books on the road.

Audio books are great to listen to during a commute, while traveling for business or pleasure, while exercising, or while pursuing hobbies. It is simple and easy to pick up a new audio book any time that you are in need of something new. With audio book downloads that the online audio websites offer, you will instantly have your book to play on your iPod. There is no more waiting for the mailman to deliver the audio book on CD and no longer any need to pay for shipping and handling.

These days there has been such an escalation in the number of audio book store sites online that this particular niche industry has gotten to be extremely competitive. The good news is that when websites are competing with each other, the consumers are the winners. Competition helps to keep prices from going up and helps to motivate the retailers to carry better selections and often these audio book stores will offer a free audio book with every purchase, or discounts on multiple purchases. With all of this going on, it is making it easier than ever for consumers to always have a new audio book to listen to and relax with.

For some people, there is just nothing better than having the time to delve into a well-written masterpiece, many of which have been responsible for enlightening and educating people for centuries. In more recent years, people have also enjoyed being able to listen to recordings of books for those occasions when they simply do not have the time to sit down and read. Most recently, people are enjoying ready access to a vast collection of audio books online.

One of the best things about audio books in general is that they give people the chance to avail themselves of the knowledge that is contained within the covers of a treasured tome without having to crack open the cover. In today’s fast-paced world, people often don’t have the luxury of being able to carve out enough time to read a lengthy novel, no matter how great a masterpiece it might be. But the same busy person can download audio books, load them onto their audio book player, such as an iPod, and listen to the MP3 audio book while they are engaged in other activities.

There are many activities that people can engage in that lend themselves very nicely to being able to take advantage of the audio books online. One of the best ways that people make use of an MP3 audio book that they have downloaded is during the time when they are in their cars, either running errands, commuting, or when stuck in a grid lock of traffic.

Driving, commuting on a bus or train, or even commuting on foot or bike, gives people a block of time on a regular basis that is perfect for listening to audio book downloads. At the same time, these same activities do not lend themselves to reading because it is difficult to hold a book and read. But, with audio books that are available on the internet, which are so plentiful and widely available, the commuter can download a new audio book as soon as they finish one and have an unending supply of wonderful material to listen to and enjoy.

There is a vast array of audio books these days and there seems to be more and more websites cropping up with each passing month, which continues to expand the selection that people have. No matter if you want to learn a new language, brush up on negation skills, learn history, or just want to be entertained by a best selling book that has been made available in audio format, the choice is wide open and you can find audio books on virtually any topic.

There is a huge selection of audio books online that are made available through audio book rental websites, audio book club memberships, and audio book retailers. Many people are not aware that there are also numerous free audio books from any number of websites. There are public library websites and public domain websites that have vast collections of audio book downloads of which the public has access to at no charge.

There are numerous people who express surprise when they learn that audio books have been available ever since the 1930s, even though they were not widely available until many years later. Now, some eighty years since that time, more and more people are listening to what used to be called “books on tape.” However, in this digital age, audio books are not often found on tape. MP3s are more popular. Even more popular are free MP3 audio book downloads that allow people to put the recording on their computer or iPod, without spending a nickel.

Even though audio books had been available for a number of years, they really gained in popularity in the late 1970s when the Sony Walkman became so popular. This small cassette tape player made it possible for people to easily take recorded material with them in a convenient way that had never before been popular. Then, about a decade later, the compact disc was introduced and suddenly the newest and best music and audio books on CD became more popular. While you can still buy an audio book on CD today, most people prefer to get their audio books in MP3 format.

There is no doubt that a little searching will produce a wide array of free MP3 audio book downloads from a number of websites. However, it is pretty unlikely that if you are looking for a brand new audio book release of a recent bestselling book that you’ll find it as a free download. Those new and popular titles will be available for sale though, and many via a download after purchase.

In some instances, an author, or their publisher, will offer a free MP3 audio book version of the work to customers who purchase the printed hardcover book. This can be a valuable incentive to the customer and also an effective advertising and marketing strategy that is particularly helpful when a brand new author is trying to gain a name and reputation.

Many times, an independent author who does not have their own publisher will build a website to promote a new book that they have written and will offer the free MP3 audio book as a bonus when the customer buys their printed book or their e-book. This can also be a good way to drive up sales or to launch a new website because people are always attracted to the potential to get something for free and most people consider an audio book download to have a lot of value, especially if it is on a topic about which they are interested.

There are a number of websites these days that have vast libraries of MP3 audio book downloads that cover just about any topic that have ever been written about. Some of these sites are membership websites and when you register as a free member or purchase a paid membership to their site, many will provide their new members with free MP3 audio book selections as a part of their membership.

You can also find many free MP3 audio book downloads by searching the websites of the various large public libraries. Also, there are some specialized websites that have undertaken projects of collecting a vast number of works that are now in the public domain and they have made e-books and audio books available for people to download either for free or by making a small donation to help with the costs of running the website.