Why do people make abridgded versions of audiobooks?

for people who want to get the main story and essence of the plot without having to listen to hours of elaborate descriptions etc. basically, same reason people make abridged versions of books.

Extreme laziness?

I’d say they are just bored, put a wii in the recording studio and bye bye abridged books.

I find them very annoying but I have always been a voracious reader. The abridged versions may catch the -eye-ears of non-readers, slow readers, people who are dyslexic or younger kids who don’t like to read much.