Brad Stone posted an interesting article on the New York Times Bits technology blog last week about Amazon’s recent purchase of, Audible, the Web’s largest provider of downloadable audiobooks. Though Amazon isn’t saying much about what it will do with the company, Stone suggests that bringing audiobooks directly to its Web site and to the Kindle is the obvious first step.

Stone goes on to speculate about the future of Amazon’s recent endeavor, imagining a service that allows you to “seamlessly switch from reading a book on your digital device to listening to the same book read aloud as you get in the car, or if your eyes are tired, or if you simply want to hear a crucial scene acted out? And then to switch back to the printed page?”

With its nascent MP3 store, Amazon has shown an eagerness to get traditional media companies to relax copyright restrictions. Consequently, Stone asks, “How about audiobooks that you can easily transfer between your computer, e-book reader and cell phone? Or e-book downloads that come packaged with a discounted audio track? Audible’s new owner could now make all that possible, with a little cooperation from brave publishers.”

Of course, any of this experimentation would certainly invigorate the slowly growing $923-million-a-year audiobook industry. But Stone suggests that the real opportunity is bringing some excitement and flexibility into the hardback-bound world of book publishing—getting people reading again, even if their eyes never land on the printed page. As we have suggested in past posts, interactivity and the provision multiple mediums might be the most exciting potential features of ebook readers for Higher Education. As we slip further into the world of secondary orality, students and teachers have the opportunity to interact with texts in ways that we have yet to imagine.

For more be sure to check out Stone’s full post.