New Study Shows Ereader Ownership Growing Faster than Tablet Ownership

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by paid content

A new Pew report shows that the number of U.S. adults who own a dedicated e-reader (like a Kindle or Nook) has doubled since November 2010, to 12 percent. That is much faster growth than predicted by a recent eMarketer survey, which predicted that e-reader ownership would not hit 12 percent until 2012. Meanwhile, the rate of tablet ownership appears to have slowed: Pew found that 8 percent of adults own a tablet, compared to 5 percent in November 2010.

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-n...ad-of-tablets/





My question is, how many adults are there in America?

[spellbanisher]

Some more charts and graphs









http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/...ts/Report.aspx

[Ditchleyportrait]

it used to be that ereaders had the same price point as tablets. i imagine tablet pricing will go down in a few years. i chose a kindle dx because i thought it would be nice to get away from the net. however, that view was naive. you're never away from the net. a device that handles both books and web surfing with a breeze is invaluable. nonetheless, i'm happy i have a kindle and not a tablet pc.

i think ereaders are a bit more popular because they're much cheaper today, and with the pearl screens, they boast a convincing reading experience to paper books.

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

chose a kindle dx because i thought it would be nice to get away from the net. however, that view was naive. you're never away from the net.

It's not that hard to get away from the net if you know which social groups to join.

[spellbanisher]

Oops. I did not see that other thread. Hey mods, can you close or delete this thread?

[Ditchleyportrait]

yours had the nice graphics, though!

true with the amish picture. although i'm starting to think that tablets provide quick bouts of reading, not good for extended periods, but in this day and age, who really sits down and reads, and reads only? it seems that multitasking has become a fact of life because of the digital age and the internet, which i have trouble getting used to.

maybe i should've gotten the ipad.

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

. . . but in this day and age, who really sits down and reads, and reads only?

Raising my hand. Often for several hours a day. But then I do not buy the idea that one can multi-task while really reading with full appreciation and comprehension.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

... maybe i should've gotten the ipad.

I have an iPad and a KDXG.

I use the KDXG virtually every night, before I go to sleep.

I have not used the iPad in ages (I am not even sure in what drawer exactly it is....)

Tablets are good for certain people (and the iPad is probably the best of them), but I need to carry a laptop when I travel, so I find the iPad pointless in my case.

The eInk screen is much, much better for extended (anything over 30 minutes) reading, IMO.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

but in this day and age, who really sits down and reads, and reads only?

Me. A lot.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

but in this day and age, who really sits down and reads, and reads only?

I do and prefer it. I dislike being distracted when reading and my ereaders only distraction is when I reach the end of the page and need to "turn" it.

[anamardoll]

Huh. More men own eReaders than women. I guess it WAS economical/social after all and not a TABLET PR0N, EINK ROMANCE divide after all.

[Namekuseijin]

I read all day long on an LCD: either source code, comments here or ebooks...

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

but in this day and age, who really sits down and reads, and reads only?

me. but to do that i usually make sure there is no other noise inside or outside the room, or else i'll get distracted. once i've achieved a good position on my bed, i prop up my kindle and read for 4-6 hours

[vxf]

I get home after a fun 14-hour workday, pour myself a glass of Jameson, put on some jazz or some old swing singer, sit on my lounge chair on the balcony, puff on my Don Tomas and read. Well, I guess that is, technically speaking, multitasking....


Yet, I completely forgot my main reason for posting... how can I put it??? Well, let's call it 'skepticism'. I have given the numbers only a cursory look, but I just think there HAS to be something wrong here. I find it extremely hard to believe 12% of the adult US population has an ebook reader. That percentage is way, way too high. And almost a quarter of people who make above 75k? Even harder to swallow.

I am extremely skeptical of all polls and similar... you know what they say.... '90% of statistical results are made up'...

OK, well, I got myself curious now. Will dig into those numbers and methodology a bit.

EDIT:

As reported above, the sample is about 2800 people. That doesn't sound bad. I wonder if that is the number of responses or of contacts. They claim a margin of 2% - which makes sense, if those are actual responses.

Yet, something makes me wonder. Is there a huge response rate bias, when investigating something like this? As in - most people are just going to slam the phone when asked whether they own an ebook reader. But ebook reader owners are often enthusiastic, and often want to talk about it - these forums are a testament to that. If ebook reader owners are more likely to answer, then the findings would bias upwards the percentage of people owning ebook readers. Sure, there must be ways to correct for that - but not with a single sample of less than 3k.

I know, that is only a possibility, I am grasping at straws. But I just can't believe 12%.

[DMB]

It appeared from the tables that Hispanic people are enthusiastic techies.