Backed. Thanks for starting this project.
What will be the recommended software to consume this?
I'm an Audible member anymore. I'm using a regular podcast iOS app (called RSSRadio) for HPMOR at the moment, but it's a bit manual (have to download each episode from archive). It seems like there would be a way to package an audio book (mp3 files + some XML metadata) and have an app that can consume that. Basically, like Audible but with a simple/open format. But I haven't found any so far.
You'll be able to subscribe to the books in podcast form by adding it to iTunes or your favorite podcatcher.
We'll also make it available in .m4b format which can be used with many audiobook players, including Apple devices.
LessWrong is getting ready to release an actual book that covers most of the material found in the Sequences.
There have been a few posts about it in the past, here are two: the title debate, content optimization.
We've been asked if we'd like to produce the audiobook version and the answer is yes. This is a large undertaking. The finished product will probably be over 35 hours of audio.
To help mitigate our risk we've decided to Kickstarter the audiobook. This basically allows us to pre-sell it so we're not stuck with a large production cost and no revenue.
The kickstarter campaign is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1267969302/lesswrong-the-sequences-audiobook
If you haven't heard of us before we've already produced some sequences into audiobooks. You can see them and listen to samples which are indicative of the audio quality here.