MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Why aren't e-books more successful?

Steven Lyle Jordan · 11-16-2006, 11:09 AM

The "average" person may only read 2 books/year, but I'll bet they read a lot more periodicals... in newspapers' case, the "average" person reads a daily newspaper... well, pretty much daily... and a magazine subscription means 12 mags a year, or 52 issues a year for weeklies, at $15-$30 for each. That can amount to some good sales numbers per person.

Sony may understand this, and hope the Reader will crack the periodical market eventually. If it does, maybe it'll pull e-books along with it.

Sony also probably expects a value-added advantage to work in their favor, like playing music, or (in the future) tying in ads and online purchasing, to make the Reader more popular and spur sales.

I think Sony knows the market. The only question is whether or not their hardware will hit the mark.

11-16-2006, 11:09 AM	#89
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	The "average" person may only read 2 books/year, but I'll bet they read a lot more periodicals... in newspapers' case, the "average" person reads a daily newspaper... well, pretty much daily... and a magazine subscription means 12 mags a year, or 52 issues a year for weeklies, at $15-$30 for each. That can amount to some good sales numbers per person. Sony may understand this, and hope the Reader will crack the periodical market eventually. If it does, maybe it'll pull e-books along with it. Sony also probably expects a value-added advantage to work in their favor, like playing music, or (in the future) tying in ads and online purchasing, to make the Reader more popular and spur sales. I think Sony knows the market. The only question is whether or not their hardware will hit the mark.