Recorded audio books have been available for decades. Devices changed over time to play from recordings produced on albums, tapes, compact disks (CD) and digital formats.
What kinds of talking book readers are there?
Desktop Book Players
The United States has a free talking book program for people with disabilities. The National Library Service provides members with a desktop book player with large tactile buttons and spoken directions. Books provided by this service come to your home on a cartridge that is inserted into a slot for playback.
Portable Talking Book Players
Portable talking book players are small devices about the size of a TV remote control. One example is the Victor Stream from Humanware. Transfer your audio books to the player by connecting to the internet or connecting to a computer. You can borrow digital books from the library or from paid services such as Audible.com.
Other E-Readers
Devices like the Kindle can display books in various font sizes, background colors and can be read aloud by a computer-generated speech if the author has given permission.