Re: "Mutineer's Moon (Dahak Series)" by David Weber

On 29/03/24 18:19, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, Titus G  <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On 26/03/24 08:59, Cryptoengineer wrote:
>>> On 3/25/2024 12:11 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> snip
>>>>
>>>> I've lost one jailbroken 2011 Kindle Keyboard to some sort of
>>>> hardware issue, but the other is still going strong.  It is amusing
>>>> how slow search gets when you have 1240 books loaded.  Definitely
>>>> don't want to "trade up" to one without the read-out-loud feature and
>>>> a headphone jack.
>>>
>>>  I use the kindle app on ipad and an android phone, and haven't
>>> noticed any ads beyond 'you might like this book'.
>>>
>>> ...but I don't get the text-to-voice, and I'd love to have it.
>>>
>>
>> My first Kindle was bought in 2011 but my books are all stored in
>> Calibre so I never would have had more than a hundred on it so never
>> noticed speed of response to anything but the touch screen on later
>> models is far superior for ease of use. I use the Amazon provided Kindle
>> for PC and do not register the Kindle so do not receive any ads.
>> I suspect you would be very disappointed with the quality of text to
>> voice on this 2011 Kindle as the computer just produces words in a
>> computer voice with no change in emotion, speed or volumne.
>>
> 
> Yeah, I have all my ebooks in Calibre as well, the 1240 also on the
> Kindle are just the ones I haven't read yet.
> 
> I posted an example of the text-to-voice here a few weeks ago, let me
> dig it up agian:
> 
> 	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0nxRIQz0kc

Thanks, but I thought that that was terrible and I couldn't understand
much without reading at the same time.

> 
> There are a few settings you can tweak.  As I recall I picked a female
> voice and either sped it up a little or slowed it down a little the
> default was off one way or the other.
> 
> It takes a little getting used to, but I find it quite comprehensible.
> 
> There are occasional comic aspects.  For instance, Lindsay Buroker has
> a writing tic where her characters say "Hmm." as a thinking pause.
> The Kindle pronounces this as "hectameters".  Since the first place
> I encountered it was a semi-steampunk setting where "hectameters" was
> a plausible mild swear, it took me a while to figure out what was going
> on.
> 
> I get the feeling from reading Amazon reviews that lots of people expect
> audiobooks to be something close to radio dramas.  I don't get that at
> all.  A narrator should not try to act the book.

My complaint is with the Kindle as narrator. I have never listened to an
audio book. I am sure my eyes, not knowing what to do, would close
inducing sleep.