MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Did anyone actually defect to ebooks from hardcovers?

ficbot · 12-13-2009, 04:12 PM

I keep hearing about how worried the publishers are about the ebooks because they think the people who bought ebook readers are the people who used to buy the hardbacks, but I have yet to encounter a single reader for whom this is true. Most ebook readers seem to be one of two types:

1) They did used to buy books, but never/seldom new hardbacks. They used to buy paperbacks, remaindered hardbacks or used book store books

2) They never bought any books and did all their reading from the library or from books they borrowed off other people

Reasons they have for buying ebooks are either the convenience (I can buy it right now at midnight from home etc.) or for archival/storage (don't need three houses worth of shelves to store them). I really have never met a single reader who used to buy full-priced hardbacks and is now costing the publishers those sales by opting for cheaper ebooks.

So, does such a mythical reader exist? Can we, in what is arguably the biggest ebook readers gathering place on-line find a single reader who actually has defected to the e-side from Fullpricehardbackland?

12-13-2009, 04:12 PM	#1
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Did anyone actually defect to ebooks from hardcovers? I keep hearing about how worried the publishers are about the ebooks because they think the people who bought ebook readers are the people who used to buy the hardbacks, but I have yet to encounter a single reader for whom this is true. Most ebook readers seem to be one of two types: 1) They did used to buy books, but never/seldom new hardbacks. They used to buy paperbacks, remaindered hardbacks or used book store books 2) They never bought any books and did all their reading from the library or from books they borrowed off other people Reasons they have for buying ebooks are either the convenience (I can buy it right now at midnight from home etc.) or for archival/storage (don't need three houses worth of shelves to store them). I really have never met a single reader who used to buy full-priced hardbacks and is now costing the publishers those sales by opting for cheaper ebooks. So, does such a mythical reader exist? Can we, in what is arguably the biggest ebook readers gathering place on-line find a single reader who actually has defected to the e-side from Fullpricehardbackland?