The Past, Present and Future of the Printed Book

GERGE · 11-10-2015, 03:30 AM

http://thewire.in/2015/11/08/the-pas...ed-book-14947/

This was much better than I expected, the article is mostly right concerning current atmosphere, I believe.

But I think the stagnation in growth is bacause those fiction readers who wants to have ereaders are all got them, and we have entered a slow expansion period. As the years pass, more and more people will turn to the ereaders. Youth adopted, rest would be slow.

It is not that ebooks are stagnating, but expecting growth rates in high two-digits every year until paper books are vanquished are naive. %20 ebook sales are more than good for a new thing. If you look at the emerging markets in ebooks, you will see the same trend. Up to %20-%30 percent very quick, then slow expansion.

What I don't get is why people are keeps saying that ebooks are dying. This data is not really hard to read, after all.

pwalker8 · 11-10-2015, 04:06 AM

People forget that digital music and mp3 players were around for a long time prior to the iTunes store opening in 2003 and that while the big local cd stores pretty much collapsed by 2006, people still buy a lot of cd's. Shifts tend to be more generational than instantaneous.

From my standpoint, the fact that younger kids tend to prefer physical books to ebooks is the more interesting thing. Some of that may simply be that most kids don't have their own money, and thus use libraries or trade books rather than buy ebooks.

danskmacabre · 11-10-2015, 07:01 PM

I wouldn't buy a pbook novel for the most part.
There ARE exceptions, such as special editions I like to buy in a pbook format.

This year though I HAVE spent a fair bit on pbooks as it turned out.
Various Tabletop RPG books. I probably spent about $300 on these so far this year.
I also got a special edition of the hobbit, hardbound with a slipcase and embossed cover etc.. That cost me $100, so I have spent a fair bit on pbooks this year.

For me the future of pbooks are Special editions, Tabletop RPG books and that's about it.

11-10-2015, 03:30 AM	#1
GERGE Guru Posts: 732 Karma: 5797160 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Istanbul Device: Kobo Libra	The Past, Present and Future of the Printed Book http://thewire.in/2015/11/08/the-pas...ed-book-14947/ This was much better than I expected, the article is mostly right concerning current atmosphere, I believe. But I think the stagnation in growth is bacause those fiction readers who wants to have ereaders are all got them, and we have entered a slow expansion period. As the years pass, more and more people will turn to the ereaders. Youth adopted, rest would be slow. It is not that ebooks are stagnating, but expecting growth rates in high two-digits every year until paper books are vanquished are naive. %20 ebook sales are more than good for a new thing. If you look at the emerging markets in ebooks, you will see the same trend. Up to %20-%30 percent very quick, then slow expansion. What I don't get is why people are keeps saying that ebooks are dying. This data is not really hard to read, after all.

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11-10-2015, 04:06 AM	#2
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	People forget that digital music and mp3 players were around for a long time prior to the iTunes store opening in 2003 and that while the big local cd stores pretty much collapsed by 2006, people still buy a lot of cd's. Shifts tend to be more generational than instantaneous. From my standpoint, the fact that younger kids tend to prefer physical books to ebooks is the more interesting thing. Some of that may simply be that most kids don't have their own money, and thus use libraries or trade books rather than buy ebooks.

11-10-2015, 07:01 PM	#3
danskmacabre Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 3593438 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Glo. Galaxy Tab S 8.4	I wouldn't buy a pbook novel for the most part. There ARE exceptions, such as special editions I like to buy in a pbook format. This year though I HAVE spent a fair bit on pbooks as it turned out. Various Tabletop RPG books. I probably spent about $300 on these so far this year. I also got a special edition of the hobbit, hardbound with a slipcase and embossed cover etc.. That cost me $100, so I have spent a fair bit on pbooks this year. For me the future of pbooks are Special editions, Tabletop RPG books and that's about it.

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