sales of consumer ebooks down 17%, sales of physical books up 8%

[danskmacabre]

But getting back to ereaders and ebooks.

I haven't owned a dedicated ereader for a few years now, I just use my phone and an ereader app (fbreader). It works fine for me.
My wife and kids still use ereaders though and use them pretty regularly.

As to ebook purchases. I've been going through reading the free books on Gutenberg for a few years now, so don't often buy ebooks.

As to physical books. I don't at all buy paperbacks, but I do buy some special editions of books in hardback from time to time, Especially Tolkien stuff.

[jocampo]

I was waiting for a new gen Kindle DXG that never arrived. I ended buying a Sony e-paper tablet where I finally can read and do annotations. That, combined with me Mac, gave me what I need in terms of technical books.

So I basically stopped buying ebooks (mobi or from Amazon) long time ago.

I barely buy non fiction but when I do, those are the only ebooks I still buy.

Some editors also started to offering the ebook free or super cheap if you get the paper book, I'm afraid that's also the reason for the decline, at least in terms of technical or engineering books.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I was waiting for a new gen Kindle DXG that never arrived. I ended buying a Sony e-paper tablet where I finally can read and do annotations. That, combined with me Mac, gave me what I need in terms of technical books.

So I basically stopped buying ebooks (mobi or from Amazon) long time ago.

I barely buy non fiction but when I do, those are the only ebooks I still buy.

Some editors also started to offering the ebook free or super cheap if you get the paper book, I'm afraid that's also the reason for the decline, at least in terms of technical or engineering books.

Started?
They stopped at some point?

(I haven't bought technical books this decade but including a CD-ROM with a chm or pdf of the text, along with sample code, was standard practice going back to the 90's. I probably have a few discs lying around somewhere.)

[Crowl]

These articles always seem so odd to me, I buy and read books for the actual words the author has written rather than the container they arrive in, which tends to be a mix of library books for the ones being published at currently idiotic prices and ebooks for their vastly superior portability that enables me to read far more often since a Kindle fits in a jacket pocket unlike an 800 page hardback.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

I suspect that people are still using their Kindles. But once you've purchased your favorites, to build up a core library, the amount spent on new material is bound to drop.

Sure. I've bought most of my books in the enormous Kobo coupon sprees, between 2011 and 2014. The number of books I've bought in the last three years is very, very low.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I doubt we will see throw away ebook readers.

Two points. First, I doubt everyone will agree on an interface. Heck, in the audiophile world there are still people who listen to music on records with big old tube based receivers and swear that it's the absolute best sound available. I suspect there are some who wish they could get all their reading material via illuminated manuscripts.

Second, I suspect that as more and more people grow up with smart phones and tablets, reading on such devices will be second nature to them. I see toddlers who are comfortable using an iPad. It's pretty hard to guess where we will be in 20 years.

We might one day see ereader devices that are so cheap to make that stores like Amazon give them away though. Certainly the price of the Kindle just to name one has dropped considerably since the 1st generation came out.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by crich70

We might one day see ereader devices that are so cheap to make that stores like Amazon give them away though. Certainly the price of the Kindle just to name one has dropped considerably since the 1st generation came out.

Could be, but I suspect it's more likely that more and more people will read on multi-purpose devices such as tablets and phones. Last week, I forgot my iPad mini and ended up reading on my iPhone 7 plus at lunch. I normally need reading glasses to read a printed book, but I had no problems reading on the iPhone plus.

Of course, who knows what the future will bring. I expect we will see increase in battery life and changes in screen technology.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by crich70

We might one day see ereader devices that are so cheap to make that stores like Amazon give them away though. Certainly the price of the Kindle just to name one has dropped considerably since the 1st generation came out.

I remember hearing rumors that Amazon would just give away the $50 Fire tablets to Prime members. That obviously hasn't happened, but I could see the sense in it.

They're more likely to be given away than any e-ink Kindle, mainly because they make it that much easier to order from Amazon.

[graycyn]

I bought a lot of books when I first got an e-reader. Mostly to replace my favorite paper books. This was before pricing went up.

Now I buy ebooks occasionally, most are borrowed from my library, which has always been my main source of reading material.

I do admit that I've bought more paper books in the last year ... all destined to be scanned, proofread and made into ePub, because they are not available for purchase as ebook. 😂

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by barryem

Phones that can only call one number existed long before cell phones. They were called intercoms, I think. They came in pairs and they could talk to each other.

Depending upon where, and what time period one is talking about, intercoms are either very different, or only slightly different from the "can only call one number" phones.

The most common "can only call one number" phones are found along highways, and in college parking lots, where they connect to the State Patrol, or Campus Security, respectively.