Is the ereader dead?

[Flaneurette]

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/is-the-...view-5158.html

[GlenBarrington]

Not for me.

[Alohamora]

Ten years ago, the Kindle was essentially the only game in town for e-books. But now, it's just as easy to read on your computer, your tablet, your phone — or even all three, thanks to cross-compatible apps.

I know it's not a popular opinion around here, but I agree with Tom's.

[jhowell]

Only 19 percent of U.S. adults owned an e-reader in 2015...

Seems pretty good to me for a niche product.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Seems pretty good to me for a niche product.

Yes I don’t believe that statistic.

[theducks]

FUD

I don't read on a tablet, the backlight kills what is left of my eyes.

I tried reading on Microfiche years ago , what a pain.
I tried, reading on my PC, what a crick in the neck.
Then I got my EZReader . Finally, it died, so I have a K4 NT (real buttons).
I really don't want to pay $300 to get buttons when this dies.
I have big fingers, and not a light touch. It takes me n times to key in a number on my phone because my fingertip bridges numbers (or letters on the touch keypad)

[robilarocn]

I am confused by the article. How can the writers source (The author) validate her statistics?

She states that many books are bought on A kindle but how does she know they are bought on A kindle? I buy a ton of books digitally through Amazon but have never owned a kindle. Plenty of people simply put the kindle app on their phones or tablet.

Or they use calibre to convert them and still... put them on a phone or tablet.

I've owned a few e-ink devices and ultimately never been satisfied with them.

[HLS]

I disagree with the article. I hated reading. Went 20 plus years not reading a single book. I hate paper books. Got an ereader on a whim in 2010 and been reading non stop sense. Totally changed my life. Sales declined for people are keeping their ereaders longer w/o an upgrade, sales may have gone down for people utilize the library's more and unlimited subscriptions rather than purchasing an ebook. Also many people do not understand the wonders of an ereader so they do not buy them. I find them to be a real advantage. I am a total addict now. I cant stop downloading freebies, samples, renting library books etc.... My ereaders go everyplace with me. I usually have both my kindle and nook with me at all times

[Thasaidon]

The dedicated eReader is unlikely to become more than a niche market but it is one that is likely to suit a large and growing demographic. The older reader.

I notice that Tom's article seems very US centric. People outside the US also buy dedicated eReaders and they will also affect the future market for dedicated eReaders.

This being the case as long as companies can make money making and selling dedicated eReaders someone will do so. But technology marches on perhaps someone will come up with screen that is better than eInk, can play HD full colour films, is unbreakable, cheaper and uses even less power. If mobiles and tablet were fitted with such screens I could see dedicated eReaders as we know them disappearing.

eBooks are here to stay (at least for the forseeable future) as they can be read on many types of devices.

In light of the above I think that dedicated eReaders will continue to be around for a while yet as a niche market it is although the number of models is likely to reduce. I also think the glory days of high and increasing sales are over. Unless interest starts booming in countries who have no significant eReader base as yet.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Flaneurette

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/is-the-...view-5158.html

This is where he gets off track ...

The logical conclusion was that manufacturers had done their jobs too well. After all, e-readers aren't powerhouse devices. If you buy one, it could last for years, giving you no real reason to upgrade. However, data suggests that e-reader ownership dropped precipitously. People weren't just neglecting to buy new devices; they seemed to be actively ditching their old ones.

What he fails to see is that eReaders (like tablets) had a huge growth spurt. Both dropped in sales (the tablet after the eReader). Does that mean people quit using tablets or eReaders? No. The market just shook out the chaff. If you've ever looked in pawn shops for eReaders or on Shop Goodwill, etc., you'll find a lot of eReaders from years ago that were hardly used at all. People who read (like me) were so enthusiastic about eReaders that we bought them as gifts or convinced others to buy them. The new owners were less than enthusiastic and they soon ended up in drawers or at pawn shops or second hand stores. Besides, the market got saturated. Sales drop in a saturated market.

Another part of the argument that is just silly ...

Only 19 percent of U.S. adults owned an e-reader in 2015, and the numbers didn't vary much by sex, location or age. Twenty-seven percent of affluent individuals surveyed owned an e-reader, and they were the most enthusiastic buyers by far. Compare and contrast: 68 percent of U.S. adults owned a smartphone in the same year, and 87 percent of affluent individuals did, according to data from the Pew Research Center.

Does the writer honestly expect eReader ownership to match smartphone ownership? I think 19% (nearly a fifth of all Americans, about 61 million people) is a pretty impressive number for a specialized device.

The following pretty much shows the writer's utter disdain for eReaders.

Both Barnes & Noble and Amazon released new E Ink readers last year: the extremely pricey Kindle Oasis and the extremely mediocre Nook GlowLight 3. Neither product is really inventive enough to reverse the e-reader's fortunes, and it's not really clear where either company could go from here.

OPINION noted. What it really means (and the whole article in general) is that I (personally) don't like eReaders. Well, whoop-dee-doo.

And then the writer goes on to show his disdain for genre fiction (again, his OPINION) and ends by arguing ...

One could argue that a smartphone or tablet would provide just as many opportunities for genre writers and readers to find one another, but remember: Kudisch's readers don't generally buy her books on smartphones.

Well, one could argue that scientists should spend the majority of their time and talent attempting to mutate elephants so they have wings, but reality kind of stands in their way. Fact is, heavy readers (at least a large percentage of them), prefer eReaders. After all, 61 million Americans own an eReader. Pretty impressive for a "niche" product with an "uncertain future."

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Alohamora

I know it's not a popular opinion around here, but I agree with Tom's.

On any specific points?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by rcentros

.



OPINION noted. What it really means (and the whole article in general) is that I (personally) don't like eReaders. Well, whoop-dee-doo.

The author seems to be working off tradpub establishment zombie memes, like the hoary old:

Then, something strange happened: E-book sales more or less leveled off

Nope. Ebook sales haven't leveled off. Much less declined.

People are reading a whole lot more today than ten years ago and all the growth is coming on the digital side. They're just paying less for those reads.

Ebook dollar revenues have leveled off because people are buying less and less ebooks from the BPHs and much more of the cheaper Indie releases. The lost BPH ebook revenues they see are being diverted to smaller publishers, Indies, and APub. And to Kindle Unlimited, which has virtually no BPH content, and has corralled a good chunk of the market.

Just another establishment piece trying to pretend ebooks were a fad.
This one just happens to be ten years late.

http://www.alphr.com/features/242919...a-fad/page/0/1

[latepaul]

This might be an odd thing to say for someone who owns seven eink devices, but as long as ebooks are still available I'm less concerned about dedicated ereaders. The best thing about my Kindles/Kobos is the battery life. The eink is nice but I'll happily read off my PC monitor or tablet screen. (In fact I probably read on my PC more than any other device). I almost never read outside.

And I've been saying for a few years that ereaders will eventually go away anyway. That's not based on declining popularity, that's based on the belief that at some point they'll figure out a screen technology that has the advantages of both eink and lcd and we'll just have tablets and phones. They only reason we have dedicated reading devices is that eink is good for reading but not a lot else.

[GlenBarrington]

If I have to choose between a smartphone with a > 5 inch display, and an eReader device with a 6 inch display, of course I would select the smartphone! The smartphone is FAR more versatile and will satisfy more of my technology needs than an eReader.

But the thing is, I don't have to choose between them. $50 US dollars will buy you a very usable eReader device whose performance is easily the equal of my $300 PRS300 of 10 years ago, or so.

The limitations of an eReader is much less significant than the cultural shift we see in the importance of traditional literacy. As a blogger about photography, I have seen this in my own blog. I am MUCH more comfortable with the written word, but my viewers want to see videos.

This has sort of frozen me in place for the last year or so in regards to my blogging.

The competition isn't from other eReading devices, it is from the changes in how people want to absorb new knowedge and entertainment.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by rcentros

On any specific points?

The part I quoted for a start.