iPad closing in on kindle

[StanByk]

Hi,
found an interesting article on macrumours.

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/11/30/...der-ownership/

Do you think that classical ebook reading devices will ever be able to become main stream devices? With tablets becoming more common and being much more versatile, I am wondering if ebook reader sales have reached a peak and will go downhill from now on?

For me, at the moment the biggest advantages of an ereader are battery life, the screen technology and the weight.
I really like my Sony PRS650 and use it on a daily basis to read fiction, but it is - as most ereaders - completely unsuitable to read biomedical research papers (I work in biomedical research), an area where for example tablets such as the iPad are clearly superior (at least in my opinion).

Whats you opinion?
Robert

[MR. Pockets]

The numbers seem fishy concerning the dedicated devices. It seems to me (from the people I have talked to) that the Nook is nowhere near that far behind the Kindle.

[HistoryWes]

They seem about right to me. There is no question that Kindle is vastly outselling the Nook. The thing to remember I think is that many buying iPads aren't buying them as eReaders (although I did).

[leebase]

In another survey, half of iPad owners buy kindle books so Amazon is likely very happy with the ipad's success.

Lee

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by StanByk

Hi,
found an interesting article on macrumours.

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/11/30/...der-ownership/

Do you think that classical ebook reading devices will ever be able to become main stream devices? With tablets becoming more common and being much more versatile, I am wondering if ebook reader sales have reached a peak and will go downhill from now on?

The chart shows that iPad is increasing its market share, while the Kindle share is decreasing. What it does not show is how large the market is. Despite the decreasing market share, Kindle's actual unit sales might be increasing.

There will undoubtedly come a time when iPads outsell Kindles. But so what? It's Apples, so to speak, and Oranges. iPads are computers; Kindles are dedicated EBRs.

In short, your question can't be answered by extrapolating from the data in this article.

Personally, I think that dedicated EBRs like the Kindle will continue to become cheaper, to the point where they are ubiquitous among the reading population.

My household is a book household. We have hundreds of pbooks. I have 5 sons. Three are readers - that is, consumers of books. Two of the readers have EBRs and iPads. (The other is a dedicated library/Borders/B&N reader - he doesn't ever buy books.)

But the two non-readers are also the two youngest. Do they represent the future of reading? Or will they become readers as they get older, as their older brothers did? (My bet - one will, one won't.) So the real question is whether the reading population will get larger or smaller. If the former, EBRs will thrive. If the latter, they will gradually disappear.

[CazMar]

Originally Posted by Harmon

Personally, I think that dedicated EBRs like the Kindle will continue to become cheaper, to the point where they are ubiquitous among the reading population.

I agree - if you are a book addict the EBR just becomes another "bookshelf". As you say, everyone in the household who can read will own one. It's like walking into someone's home and seeing bookshelves crammed with books or not a book in sight.
I was talking to someone the other night who mentioned that she only read about 2 books per year, I would easily read that in a week! EBR's are obviously not useful for my acquaintance, but for me it has been as exciting as getting an internet connection all those years ago!

[catsittingstill]

Whether the Kindle platform will persist is, as others have noted, not affected by this, since it runs on the iPad too.

Whether dedicated e-book readers will persist--I hope so, because I really like mine better than reading on my iPod. But the iPad--shiny! Even readers might prefer one because of all the other things it will do, and non-readers will (in my opinion) almost certainly prefer one.

On the other hand, I think the questions apparently asked (are you going to buy ebook reader 1, ebook reader 2, ebook reader 3 or the iPad?) is kind of an apples-and-oranges thing.

If we're trying to get at whether hardware ebook readers are likely to persist, a more useful question might have been "do you own a non-iPad e-book reader? If so, do you intend to quit using it (or have you already quit using it) to use an iPad instead?"

[mikemc2]

a new survey of its audience of professionals and early-adopter consumers

Well that's not a very representative sample of people who read for pleasure is it? In other news, bllionaires who are planning on buying a car in the next six months prefer the Bugatti Veyron to the Honda Fit. What? Isn't everyone buying a Veyron?

[perversity]

these seem like some cooked up numbers to me. When was the last time Kindle/Amazon released actual sales figures? In my home state of Colorado, during my black friday outing to Best Buy, I saw more moms, grandmas, dads and younger men perusing the ebook aisle than the ipad section.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by CazMar

I agree - if you are a book addict the EBR just becomes another "bookshelf". As you say, everyone in the household who can read will own one. It's like walking into someone's home and seeing bookshelves crammed with books or not a book in sight.
I was talking to someone the other night who mentioned that she only read about 2 books per year, I would easily read that in a week! EBR's are obviously not useful for my acquaintance, but for me it has been as exciting as getting an internet connection all those years ago!

What struck me last night is that I actually PREFER to read books on an EBR. And I've been reading for about 60 years - maybe longer, I don't remember ever not being able to read.

So I got to wondering about why I now prefer an EBR to a pbook, and what I've concluded is that it's the single page screen. Years of working on a computer has accustomed me to reading on a single screen, so that the double page view of a book is actually distracting...

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

If we're trying to get at whether hardware ebook readers are likely to persist, a more useful question might have been "do you own a non-iPad e-book reader? If so, do you intend to quit using it (or have you already quit using it) to use an iPad instead?"

Well, in my case I own both, and I NEVER read ebooks on the iPad.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MR. Pockets

The numbers seem fishy concerning the dedicated devices. It seems to me (from the people I have talked to) that the Nook is nowhere near that far behind the Kindle.

Perhaps you're overlooking the fact that the Kindle is sold world-wide, but the nook is only available in the US?

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by mikemc2

a new survey of its audience of professionals and early-adopter consumers

Well that's not a very representative sample of people who read for pleasure is it? In other news, bllionaires who are planning on buying a car in the next six months prefer the Bugatti Veyron to the Honda Fit. What? Isn't everyone buying a Veyron?

Exactly.

I've seen some much more random polls that indicate that most ebook reader owners are over 40 or female.

Just like the polls here only represent the MobileRead population. Which is still interesting, but is not definitive.

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

Exactly.

I've seen some much more random polls that indicate that most ebook reader owners are over 40 or female.
Just like the polls here only represent the MobileRead population. Which is still interesting, but is not definitive.

Definitely true from what I've seen of the e-book business. It very closely parallels the print book business - most readers are over 40 or female.

[MR. Pockets]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps you're overlooking the fact that the Kindle is sold world-wide, but the nook is only available in the US?