Tony Stephens was just 15 years old when he went blind, but as a lifelong reader, he didn’t let the experience deter him.
“[I had] a hard time learning braille, but I had my big, bulky talking book playing machine from the National Library Service,” Stephens told PBS.
“They would send out a cassette of all the new books that were being released, and it was kind of an allegory of the cave,” he said. “Your mind just exploded with all the information that was suddenly not at your fingertips, with the struggling braille skills that I had, but at my ears. And I could just whisk away the night, falling asleep, listening to all kinds of fiction and nonfiction.”
Today, Stephens works as the assistant vice president for communications at the American Foundation for the Blind, the same organization that created the first audiobook.
In 1932, Frank L. Dyer of the AFB created the “talking machine record” with the explicit purpose of recording readings of books for the blind. That technology later became the first modern LP.
“I think they would be excited to know that this thing they created is still not just alive, but it’s on everybody’s phone. Everybody on their commute listens to audiobooks.”
For Stephens, the history of the audiobook is a perfect example of the “curb cut” effect, where innovations designed for people with disabilities ultimately benefit everyone.
Over the last 10 years, the share of US adults who listen to audiobooks has grown by more than 100%.
“I think the audiobooks really represent not just a sense of equality or access, but really just a door, a door of opportunity,” Stephens said. “The opportunity to learn. The opportunity to dream, the opportunity to grow, all with your eyes closed in the comfort of your own room, just listening, listening to the world around you.”
Header image via EGO AGENCY
