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So sales are slightly down?
There's a global recession, though I don't know how much that factors into the figures mentioned. Do those figures take into account recent months?
What about reading declining in general? I read a lot of material online (news, articles, etc.), thus spending time reading during which I might have read more books had I not had easy access to the Internet. It's now normal for people to have computers, game consoles, and huge TVs/DVD players that might take up more of peoples' leisure time.
What about the lack of availability of books? Since getting my ebook reader I don't want to buy paper books any more, so I have passed on buying quite a few books because they were not available as ebooks or had DRM.
I spent AU$500 on a reader this year, which is probably more than I've spent on books in the last several years combined. Would I have bought more books if I hadn't spent so much money on a reader?
When are these publishers going to realise that they can't stop piracy? They may as well work out how to make products that people will buy and find ways to turn piracy to their advantage (as Cory Doctorow has done - I've read some of his free stuff and I will almost certainly buy more of his writings in the near future...when I get through my current 'to read' list).
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