MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Your reason for buying an e-reader

Enkidu of Abydos · 12-21-2010, 09:46 PM

POLL COMMENTARY BY THE AUTHOR (please offer your own opinions / explanations / conclusions)

Well as I've said before this poll will be open undefinitely but I think we already have enough votes in to draw some conclusions. And I'll be bold enough to try ! I may not be an expert, may not have a certificate, may not be perfectly objective, but you'll forgive me for the impudence, won't you ?

Well some choices were popular like I expected while others completely surprised me. Among other things, it seems that a lot of people like shiny things !

Even more that just won't admit it...

The biggest surprise for me is that almost half of the voters are more comfortable holding / using e-readers then paper books. I've never felt paper books were a problem in that regard, except for their slightly irritating tendency to close on their own and stay not completely closed after you put them down if you've spread them too far... So I guess hooray for e-readers in that regard !
One other important result is that almost one third of the voters admit that at least one of their reasons for getting an e-reader is reading free books downloaded from the Internet (and I don't mean "public domain" books), and that's on a forum which is dominated by Americans (or US citizens as our friend Pablo would say

). In a truly international poll with more (say same number relative to their population sizes) people from for example Russia, China, or countries in eastern Europe or northern Europe the ratio might be 4/5 or at least 3/4. I'm just speculating here, of course people in those countries might not be able to afford an e-reader even if they do read books and desire one, and as the Americans here may not be aware but I am e-reader availability is very poor in many parts of the world outside of US/Japan/UK. For example in my country you can get pretty much any new smartphone or digital camera you can get in the US in stores or webshops easily, but not so with e-readers like Sony's line or Kindle (most people get them on eBay). That's because the e-reader target population is much, much smaller then the smartphone / digital camera target population.
Also, one half of people read public domain books. Me not so much, I mostly read modern SF / fantasy, but I have some old classics (which should be public domain I guess) on my reading list (Shakespeare stuff and Gilgamesh).
Anyway, my point is this - with most of the people interested in free downloaded / pirated books (whatever you want to call them) and public domain books as well it seems that any e-reader scheme limited to reading only DRM protected books (and there were such ideas, oh yes !) is doomed to failure ! I hope you're reading this DRM-loving e-reader manufacturers !

Other conclusions from the poll ? Well it seems over half the voters have cupboards or even houses overflowing with books and have trouble when moving ! You people will be the end of the Amazon forest !

Good thing we have e-readers now ! Anyway, it surprises me so many people have so many books...
Portability is the most popular choice by far, it seems A LOT of people like traveling equipped and traveling light !
Availability, price and instant gratification are expectedly popular but the number of gadget lovers has surprised me - yey gadgets !

Also, the number of people with impaired vision or ecofriendly people is also significant, not an obvious market for e-readers but one to be taken into account.
I was also suprised that only 8% of people care about e-reader software features ? Then what's with all the talk about the new special features bla-bla ? Maybe people didn't understand that that choice was for people who like / need ANY of their e-reader's software features not directly related to reading ?
Also I was a bit surprised / disappointed at the number of people who use e-readers for comics and other non-book-reading purposes, it seems there are more people who care about their device staying shiny and new !

And more people use it for work then for reading comics !? I always thought e-readers were perfect for comics (with a bit bigger screen and some necessary software features) and not well suited for work (I added that as an afterthought trying to think of every possible use) because of slow refresh rate whick makes for poor interactivity. If you chose work as a reason please say what you use it for exactly, I'd like to know ?
Oh, and only 5 out of 115 people voted on the "you like looking cool and high-tech and want people to see you using it" option !? Come on people, I know you all have at least some vanity in you, admit it !

That's all from me for now, sorry for burying the forum with piles of words

but at least I'm not using paper and killing the rainforest !

12-21-2010, 09:46 PM	#36
Enkidu of Abydos Master of Disaster Posts: 386 Karma: 55466 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Split, Croatia Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	POLL COMMENTARY BY THE AUTHOR (please offer your own opinions / explanations / conclusions) Well as I've said before this poll will be open undefinitely but I think we already have enough votes in to draw some conclusions. And I'll be bold enough to try ! I may not be an expert, may not have a certificate, may not be perfectly objective, but you'll forgive me for the impudence, won't you ? Well some choices were popular like I expected while others completely surprised me. Among other things, it seems that a lot of people like shiny things ! Even more that just won't admit it... The biggest surprise for me is that almost half of the voters are more comfortable holding / using e-readers then paper books. I've never felt paper books were a problem in that regard, except for their slightly irritating tendency to close on their own and stay not completely closed after you put them down if you've spread them too far... So I guess hooray for e-readers in that regard ! One other important result is that almost one third of the voters admit that at least one of their reasons for getting an e-reader is reading free books downloaded from the Internet (and I don't mean "public domain" books), and that's on a forum which is dominated by Americans (or US citizens as our friend Pablo would say ). In a truly international poll with more (say same number relative to their population sizes) people from for example Russia, China, or countries in eastern Europe or northern Europe the ratio might be 4/5 or at least 3/4. I'm just speculating here, of course people in those countries might not be able to afford an e-reader even if they do read books and desire one, and as the Americans here may not be aware but I am e-reader availability is very poor in many parts of the world outside of US/Japan/UK. For example in my country you can get pretty much any new smartphone or digital camera you can get in the US in stores or webshops easily, but not so with e-readers like Sony's line or Kindle (most people get them on eBay). That's because the e-reader target population is much, much smaller then the smartphone / digital camera target population. Also, one half of people read public domain books. Me not so much, I mostly read modern SF / fantasy, but I have some old classics (which should be public domain I guess) on my reading list (Shakespeare stuff and Gilgamesh). Anyway, my point is this - with most of the people interested in free downloaded / pirated books (whatever you want to call them) and public domain books as well it seems that any e-reader scheme limited to reading only DRM protected books (and there were such ideas, oh yes !) is doomed to failure ! I hope you're reading this DRM-loving e-reader manufacturers ! Other conclusions from the poll ? Well it seems over half the voters have cupboards or even houses overflowing with books and have trouble when moving ! You people will be the end of the Amazon forest ! Good thing we have e-readers now ! Anyway, it surprises me so many people have so many books... Portability is the most popular choice by far, it seems A LOT of people like traveling equipped and traveling light ! Availability, price and instant gratification are expectedly popular but the number of gadget lovers has surprised me - yey gadgets ! Also, the number of people with impaired vision or ecofriendly people is also significant, not an obvious market for e-readers but one to be taken into account. I was also suprised that only 8% of people care about e-reader software features ? Then what's with all the talk about the new special features bla-bla ? Maybe people didn't understand that that choice was for people who like / need ANY of their e-reader's software features not directly related to reading ? Also I was a bit surprised / disappointed at the number of people who use e-readers for comics and other non-book-reading purposes, it seems there are more people who care about their device staying shiny and new ! And more people use it for work then for reading comics !? I always thought e-readers were perfect for comics (with a bit bigger screen and some necessary software features) and not well suited for work (I added that as an afterthought trying to think of every possible use) because of slow refresh rate whick makes for poor interactivity. If you chose work as a reason please say what you use it for exactly, I'd like to know ? Oh, and only 5 out of 115 people voted on the "you like looking cool and high-tech and want people to see you using it" option !? Come on people, I know you all have at least some vanity in you, admit it ! That's all from me for now, sorry for burying the forum with piles of words but at least I'm not using paper and killing the rainforest !