How popular are ereaders? Not very I would say.

[sufue]

I'm definitely in the group that reads on my Android phone, because I don't want to carry two devices. So I might look as if I'm in the "playing games" group, but I'm really reading.

I save my dedicated Sony Reader for when I know I am going to need the longer battery life (e.g. long trips) or when I know I'll be reading in the sun (i.e. the beach).

I do know that when I travel by air, I see LOTS of e-readers - probably partly due to economics (if you can afford a plane ticket, you can probably afford an e-reader - and the books for it ) and maybe partly due to the longer battery life for (presumably) longer trips.

[Pinecone]

In the two years I have had an eReader, they have gone from people wanting to ask me about it, to being everywhere.

I would say maybe 1/3 of the people I see reading are on an eReader now.

Washington DC.

[wyndslash]

i have yet to see shops here actually selling e-readers. plus, considering that our country is also well-known for piracy, i wouldn't hold my breath. plus the kids here are the trendy sort; they'd probably read on their ipads or mobile phones, IF they do read for recreation

[Pookeysgirl]

I've seen a few e-ereaders out there while at the doctors office, even at court. Within the first 2 days that the Kobo was released they were sold out all over Burlington. Then again were sold out after the release of the black coloured ones. Also, my boss has a Sony, my co-worker has a Kobo wi-fi and she's getting a Touch (she won it from Kobo).

I have the original Kobo (which my sons use) and I take my Kindle everywhere I go.

I don't like to judge the popularity of an item by what I see in the street. I'm sure a lot of people just like reading at home

[jedipencil]

Here in Quebec, I haven't seen any. Yet. But I see TONS of people messing about on their phones, doing what I've no idea...

[rhadin]

If 1 in 100 people own an ereader device, does that make them popular? How about 1 in 250 or 1 in 10? You need to define what constitutes popular. My personal opinion is that considering millions of the devices have been sold, manufacturers keep pumping out new ones, and ebooks outsell pbooks at Amazon, I'd say they are popular. Your not seeing them in the wild doesn't mean anything more than that you haven't seen them in the wild. My wife, for example, who loves her Sony 505 never takes it out of the house.

[cfrizz]

I usually see anywhere from 1-3 people on the train reading from Kindles or Nooks or Ipads.

I can't read & ride so I'm not one of them.

[DianNC]

On my last plane trip, myself and two seatmates whipped out our ereaders even before takeoff. The gal next to me had a Kindle and I couldn't tell what the guy in the window seat was using...I think it was a Kindle as well. Of course, none of us could tell what book each was reading...not sure if that's a feature or a bug!

[Pomtroll]

Since I don't ride mass transit (walk to work) I don't know if anyone is using an e-reader. I do see them at B&N of course, but have yet to see them anywhere else. I have seen people carrying books around though. I guess I could go up to the student union at the college & see if any of them are reading on them.

I have seen a lot of people buying readers at B&N & Best Buy, yet have never seen anyone reading one. Odd

[Tome Keeper]

In the UK, even when I lived in London, I NEVER saw an e-reader in the wild. The closest you would get was an iPad. I personally only use my Kindle at home and use my Android phone when out and about, as it is easier to carry.

[Pablo]

Not popular at all in my country!!! I've never seen one in public, and the only people I know who own readers are 1) the person who recommended the Sony to me and 2) The people I have convinced to buy one for themselves.
The fact that until recently no ebook readers were sold in my country and that now a spanish company is selling the Papyre ebook readers outrageously overpriced doesn't help, either.

[jgaiser]

Since *reading* is not a popular pastime (in the U.S. anyway), it's not surprising that there's not many sightings of ereaders. I see occasional Kindles, Nooks and iPads in the pubs I hang out in, but no more or less than the number of folks reading paper books.

[Poppaea]

Well, I reckon Sex is popular, even if I don't see people doing it on public transportation

That said, the natural habitat of the reader is the airport.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by G J Lau

I think e-readers continue to be more popular in the U.S. than anywhere else. Interestingly enough, us older folks seem to have taken more of a shine to e-readers than younger people. Probably because the text size is easily adjustable and because that demographic is still the main readers of book in general.

I also agree with the lestatar above that e-readers don't tell the whole story. Cell phones and pad devices have to be factored in on the assumption that most folks would prefer not to have redundant electronic devices.

Yeah. I would like to get my mom into eReading. She doesn't really get iTunes, although she has had an iPod for years. She says she wouldn't like eReading but I think she might get into it.

Anyway, I know 5 people with dedicated eReaders and my circle is quite small. Also, there isn't much public transportation around here, so there you go. I mostly just read at home at night but I do listen to audiobooks while out running errands.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by Poppaea

Well, I reckon Sex is popular, even if I don't see people doing it on public transportation

...SNIPPED...

Originally Posted by rhadin

If 1 in 100 people own an ereader device, does that make them popular? How about 1 in 250 or 1 in 10? You need to define what constitutes popular. My personal opinion is that considering millions of the devices have been sold, manufacturers keep pumping out new ones, and ebooks outsell pbooks at Amazon, I'd say they are popular. Your not seeing them in the wild doesn't mean anything more than that you haven't seen them in the wild. My wife, for example, who loves her Sony 505 never takes it out of the house.

^ Excellent point. What's that old saying? It's all relative?

Certainly it seems that widespread consciousness of ereaders and ebooks/digital books has increased among the masses and in the media. I would think that this site itself would make for a decent barometer of the general state of the ereader market - I have only been here a short while but it seems that every day, a goodly number of new members join up, as evidenced by the large numbers of new Introduce Yourself posts. And before I left for HK, for sure over the last few years, my own on-the-street sightings of ereaders increased noticeably in NYC.

It might be interesting if the MR powers that be did some quick calculations and chart forum signups over the last few years.

Don't know about anyone else, but even though I only recently purchased my first dedicated ereader [K3], I have been reading digitally for years on other devices, going all the way back to Palm Vx and CLIE days [remember early PRC files anybody?]. Funny, my own purchases of physical books over the last few years have not seen any significant decline, but for sure, my purchase/acquisition of digital books has increased by quite a bit.

No idea when I will ever be able to make any kind of dent in my TBR queue though.

<note to self: get cracking on that immortality thing>