USA Today: More Bibliophiles Get on the Same Page

[SensualPoet]

I know, I know ... the title sounds slightly racy (), but it's actually a reasonable view of the state of the e-reader landscape. The whole article is worth a read: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/n...oks14_CV_N.htm and there are many snippets that reinforce how far ebooks have come in 2010 so far.

E-book sales make up 9% of the consumer book market. Through August, their sales are up 193% over a year ago, according to the Association of American Publishers.

Previously, it's been Random House execs talking about 8-10% of their entire sales being ebooks by the end of 2010. Here's what HarperCollins said:

HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray reports "a sea change in the past few months" among new best-selling books: "On some books, the e-books are outselling the hardcovers."

Although not everyone agrees. Of course, someone has to be really, really wrong.

Grove/Atlantic's Morgan Entrekin says that "the change will not happen as fast as it has happened in the music business or even in the newspaper and magazine world." He sees a substantial market for physical books for at least another 20 to 30 years, "but eventually, 30, 40 or 50 years from now, e-books will be the predominant form."

And a noted author chimes in that it might be a bit sooner than Grove/Atlantic's 2050 and beyond view (as in drop the trailing zero and divide by 2!):

Novelist Stephen King, who says he does nearly one-third of his own reading on an iPad or Kindle, sees e-books becoming 50% of the market "probably by 2013 and maybe by 2012."

Most surprising, and it's actually something not raised even at Mobileread all that often: ebooks pay for the investment in a reader in relatively short order for those who actually use them regularly. It's easy to save $10 much of the time ebook vs hard cover, and in Canada, ebooks are almost always cheaper than paper where mass paperbacks, let alone trade, rarely fall below $10-$12 (trade generally hovering close to $20).

Most, but not all, e-books are cheaper ($9.99 to $16.99) than the print versions ($25 and up for hardcovers). And thousands of titles (from classics in the public domain to self-published) can be downloaded for free.

The cost of the device ranges from $99 for the most basic to $499 or more for Apple's iPad, which can be used for much more than reading books. But prices have dropped. The first Kindles cost $399 in 2007; the newest models start at $139.

The article also carries a number of observations by "bibliophiles" also known as consumers and readers including a 9 year old with a passion for Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

As stated, worth a read.

[Dr. Drib]

Thanks for this post. It was nicely summarized as to the particulars of the different thinking involved in the growth of ebooks.


Don

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I guess USA Today doesn't realize people read ebooks on devices other than dedicated readers. King's comment that reading on a screen increasingly "now feels like home to them" includes smartphones and Blackberries, etc, which are becoming so ubiquitous that many people don't think twice about using them to read.

But of course, it's harder to identify a smartphone or Blackberry user reading a book, as opposed to checking their emails, so anyone who doesn't investigate thoroughly into the phenomenon could easily miss that...

[L.J. Sellers]

I keep reading the quote by Stephen King, saying, "Here's the thing — people tire of the new toys quickly."

That may be true of some things, but other gadgets (cell phones, iPods, etc.) are so useful they become part of our culture. E-readers are in that category and aren't going to fade.
L.J.

[SensualPoet]

Yah, that's why I stopped quoting at that point. He also goes off the deep end later in the article referring to a single terrorist "Electro Magnetic Pulse" that would wipe out all data in the world magically in a second rendering all electronic books blank. Really ... he should stick to fiction. It's more believable. Margaret Atwood buys into this silly dystopian vision, too.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

Yah, that's why I stopped quoting at that point. He also goes off the deep end later in the article referring to a single terrorist "Electro Magnetic Pulse" that would wipe out all data in the world magically in a second rendering all electronic books blank. Really ... he should stick to fiction. It's more believable. Margaret Atwood buys into this silly dystopian vision, too.

He's referring to the EMP from a nuclear weapon going off. It would, in fact, if it ever happened, wipe out all electronic devices in it's range. Two or three of them in the atmosphere above the US would wipe out every electronic device in the entire country. It doesn't wipe out the data, it burns out the electrical circuits. Kind of like a lightning strike, in a way. Look up EMP on Wiki if you need more info...

[Rhynedahll]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

He's referring to the EMP from a nuclear weapon going off. It would, in fact, if it ever happened, wipe out all electronic devices in it's range. Two or three of them in the atmosphere above the US would wipe out every electronic device in the entire country. It doesn't wipe out the data, it burns out the electrical circuits. Kind of like a lightning strike, in a way. Look up EMP on Wiki if you need more info...

Electrical Magnetic Pulse is a very real world physical effect associated with nuclear detonations and solar flares.

The effect was first witnessed when H-bomb explosions in the Pacific played havoc with radio and power in Hawaii.

Supposedly as part of a first strike, the Soviets planned to detonate a 100 megaton bomb 300 miles over Kansas that would have fried every electronic circuit in the continental US.

The US government commissioned of study on the effects of EMP and the report is available on the web.

The 1859 Carrington event was a prime example of the sun's distaste for electrical circuits. Such an event today would turn off the lights everywhere.

Although perhaps infrequent or unlikely, this effect is definitely not fiction.

However, William R. Fortschen used it as the basis for his PA novel, One Second After. It's a good read, but beware, it's not for the faint of heart.

[hols57]

Originally Posted by Rhynedahll

Electrical Magnetic Pulse is a very real world physical effect associated with nuclear detonations and solar flares.

The effect was first witnessed when H-bomb explosions in the Pacific played havoc with radio and power in Hawaii.

Supposedly as part of a first strike, the Soviets planned to detonate a 100 megaton bomb 300 miles over Kansas that would have fried every electronic circuit in the continental US.

The US government commissioned of study on the effects of EMP and the report is available on the web.

The 1859 Carrington event was a prime example of the sun's distaste for electrical circuits. Such an event today would turn off the lights everywhere.

Although perhaps infrequent or unlikely, this effect is definitely not fiction.

However, William R. Fortschen used it as the basis for his PA novel, One Second After. It's a good read, but beware, it's not for the faint of heart.

...Put it this way....if this ever doeshappen, I think we'll find there's a whole lot more to worry about than if suddenly you can't get anything on your reader!!

[SensualPoet]

Really, I'm not arguing that EMP would not wipe out some devices and (effectively) some data. But the sheer proliferation of data and devices around the world, with millions and millions of personal copies of ebooks ... it's not credible to worry that Stephen King's work will disappear in the event of such an attack. The probability that everything gets fried globally is well past remote.

And, as noted, in such an event we'd have other things to worry about.

[leebase]

It reminds me of the transition from film to digital. I argued and debated for years about the inevitability of digital becoming the dominant media. Ar some point you just stop as it will happen whether or not some folks feel passionately about things remaining the way they are.

Lee

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

He's referring to the EMP from a nuclear weapon going off. It would, in fact, if it ever happened, wipe out all electronic devices in it's range. Two or three of them in the atmosphere above the US would wipe out every electronic device in the entire country. It doesn't wipe out the data, it burns out the electrical circuits. Kind of like a lightning strike, in a way. Look up EMP on Wiki if you need more info...

OTOH, if nukes are being detonated, I'd think, even being a total reading addict, there are bigger problems than a fried e-book reader.

[markuskane]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

I keep reading the quote by Stephen King, saying, "Here's the thing — people tire of the new toys quickly."

That may be true of some things, but other gadgets (cell phones, iPods, etc.) are so useful they become part of our culture. E-readers are in that category and aren't going to fade.
L.J.

The book was a new toy at some point. As was the walkman, or the Cd, or the MP3, or the movie. People also adopt new toys and throw away the old ones, it seems.