And I do understand the need for voice synthesis. Audiobooks are really expensive, and often not worth the price if the reader isn't that great. These days productions are generally much better than they have been in the past, and a well-read audiobook can be an unquestionably joyous thing (such as Neil Gaiman himself reading Stardust, which should absolutely be experienced by anyone and everyone), but it sucks to pay 30 clams or more for what would be a ten dollar book if the reading itself isn't really that amazing. I do have a text-to-speech program, which I mostly use to "read" copies of my manuscripts at work while away from the computer, to help with editing and proof reading, but I've also discovered that it can be of great use when I find something I don't have time to read (most recently the Warhammer 40k "Fluff Bible") unless I've got an audio copy to listen to at work, where I have hours and hours to kill while I go about the mindless bullshit that is my job. And while it definitely isn't perfect, I'm absolutely shocked and stunned at how far these things have come. Yes, you can absolutely enjoy a story or book that way if you get past the voice, which is sometimes easier to do than a sub-par *real* reader because their bad characterizations might get in the way, where the computer voice's monotone so lacks true inflection and sometimes proper pronunciation that it becomes more like reading something on a page, where the "voice" is irrelevant and your mind is just absorbing the words and building its own images with them rather than getting any unneeded assistance through the voice itself.
So yeah, I can see why they'd be worried. The real shame of it, to me, is simply that audiobooks cost so much. If you can find them cheap enough, they can be really wonderful. The Recorded Books Unabridged Classics are great, for instance. The guy they use for a lot of them is great, having deservedly won a lot of awards, and the books themselves nice and long while not generally being over $20. Audible.com is another interesting place. I've bought one book from them so far, and it's an interesting service, providing various distribution methods. My Cowon D2 MP3 player supports the format, so it's got a single file that's divided into chapters and stuff. The problem with them is slightly more limited selection, but that's partly an issue with me in general since I like a lot of obscure material that has little chance of ever getting an audio production.
