Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books in Amazon

[Barty]

Of course people who buy books from Amazon are precisely the type more likely than average to embrace EBR. I wonder what the numbers are overall.

I think this must be good news for the book industry. I don't know the numbers to back it up, but I think people with EBR buy more books than they otherwise would, if for no other reason than to justify their purchase of the EBR . Seriously, the convenience factor and instant gratification spur a lot of buying, I imagine.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Barty

I think this must be good news for the book industry. I don't know the numbers to back it up, but I think people with EBR buy more books than they otherwise would, if for no other reason than to justify their purchase of the EBR . Seriously, the convenience factor and instant gratification spur a lot of buying, I imagine.

From Amazon VP at Digital Book World

Kindle owners buy 3.3x as many books in the year after purchasing a Kindle than in the year prior

This is only Amazon sales, so the typical owner might have bought paper books from other sources and now buys ebooks almost exclusively from Amazon. Even so, it is suggestive of more book/ebook sales than before for new Kindle owners.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by stargazir

Theres also a whole lot of people from other countries that are buying in the US store for various reasons (price, availability etc) so thats going to sway the data a bit.

True, but I used to buy paperbacks and hardcover before as well (Now it is only Kindle). In the last 4 months I have purchased 32 books (some the $3 variation which is probably free for US citizens ) which is what I bought during a two year period before. For me it is the shipping that makes all the difference (a non-issue for Americans ), usually with S&H the total doubles.

[mic_888]

I take my Kindle to read on the way to work - and I've seen lots of other Kindles (in fact I've quite a few Sony e-readers too) on the London underground. Lots of people at work too with the new Kindle - definitely a surge of Kindles over Christmas here.

[honeyrose]

I personally won't buy an ebook unless it costs at least a pound less than its physical copy. Otherwise who are they kidding?

I was looking for a ebook on Amazon recently to download to my kindle. It was being charged at 4.98. Just below it on the amazon book page, the very same book was available in physical form, from a bookwarehouse for 0.1p + 2.80 postage.

So for 2pds less than the electronic version I get a physical book with colour illustrations (and no DRM). No contest really.

[TallMomof2]

I purchase a lot of the ebook bundles on Amazon. Four books for $9.99 is a good price to me and I also download many of the freebies. I definitely purchase more ebooks now than I purchased pbooks for a couple of reasons. The most important is the price and the second reason is no physical storage space needed.

[speedlever]

Here's another person who rarely leaves home without the Kindle in tow. I never know when I'll have an opportunity to steal a few minutes to read.. so I grab 'em when I can!

[orlok]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

The most important is the price and the second reason is no physical storage space needed.

And the third for me is that I seem to be reading books quicker

Has anyone else found their reading speed increase on the Kindle? Can it be that the time saved turning the pages could make that much difference?

[Barty]

For a person with physical handicap, it can be a lot easier to deal with a EBR than a real book. For ex, it's easy to prop the kindle against something. Not so with a book. Even just holding a paperback open can be a chore.

[chyron8472]

Originally Posted by basschick

i don't take my ebook readers out of the house, and i bet a lot of other owners don't, either.

So, you never encounter a desire to read while you're away from home?

Originally Posted by rhadin

I take my Sony 950 everywhere with me.

Truthfully, I would never have bought an ereader device if it wasn't portable and I didn't plan to take it out with me.

Originally Posted by beckywc

I take my kindle where ever I go. I don't leave home without it.

+1

Originally Posted by wallcraft

[...] the typical owner might have bought paper books from other sources and now buys ebooks almost exclusively from Amazon. Even so, it is suggestive of more book/ebook sales than before for new Kindle owners.

I can personally attest that my Kindle has had me reading alot more lately than I used to. I would say in part because it's a new toy, in part because of the ease of which I can buy books, and also because others in my family have Kindles and their presence encourages discussion about books which in turn encourages more reading.

[BobLenx]

Originally Posted by Barty

I STILL have not seen anyone with an ebook reader of any kind in public, besides me of course. So I'm skeptical of these claims. But hey, maybe everybody is reading kindle on their phones

I live in an RV resort in Florida every winter. For the past three years I have been the only one around with an eReader. This season out of 20 RVers on my street FIVE of us have K3s - and others are seeing them and getting interested.

[andrewburt]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's anyone's guess when ebooks will outstrip either hardbacks or paperbacks by value. No doubt Amazon will tell us when that happens.

It is a guess, this is true, but one can make educated guesses: I did a curve fit analysis of the last seven years of ebook sales data to the standard "S-curve" that models how fast people adopt new products, and the data fit the curve with a correlation coefficient of 0.9677 (an incredibly good fit; 1.0 is perfect). If that trend continued, ebooks this year would be 25-30% of all book revenues. You can read my analysis and more details about where it could go: http://critique.org/blog/?l=20101110212040

I've long been a fan of ebooks so all I can say is w00t!

[andrewburt]

Originally Posted by Barty

Pretty impressive. Isn't it about time Amazon drops the k3 down to $99 ? Okay, I'm not saying that's good business, just good for me

It's not a Kindle per se, but I got a Pandigital Novel ereader a couple months ago for $80 at Kohl's after discounts/rebates. With a quick jailbreak it's a full-fledged Android tablet, so it has every reader app on it I could want. (Kindle app included.) Reader prices are coming down.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

So, you never encounter a desire to read while you're away from home?

Chyron, I have large stacks of unread newspapers from past years, dating back to the late 80s! I don't expect others to do this, but I keep a stack in my car, and when I go out and expect to have to wait, I bring the newspapers in with me, and then leave them for the next guy.

I find with newspapers, there is no problem with concentrating knowing that I could be interrupted at any time.

[Russell Brooks]

Originally Posted by jocampo

@Russell,

Sad, but the price of a Kindle DX is what the min wage in my country is, for a month!. We all are lucky than regardless of the brand, we can enjoy our devices and read.

This is why I've decided to come out with a paperback edition of my novel. I've already made contacts in Barbados which is where I'll start marketing.