By Chris Scott Barr
The Kindle has been on sale for a little less than three years, but it has already begun to revolutionize the way we read books. That’s not to say it’s the only player on the market, but its appetizing price and feature list helped jump-start the e-reader craze. But just how popular are ebooks? Apparently they’re more popular than hardbacks, according to Amazon.
In the last three months, Amazon has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books sold. They were not including free ebooks in the figures, or else they would be considerably higher. What’s even more interesting is that there are now five authors who have sold over 500,000 ebooks through Amazon’s Kindle bookstore.
While at first this news may lead you to believe that old-fashioned paper books are going the way of the dodo, that’s not the case just yet. The statistics given only stated a comparison between hardback books and ebooks. There is no mention of paperbacks, which generally sell at much higher rates due to their cheaper price.
How many of you have jumped on the ebook bandwagon? I’ve purchased roughly a dozen of them since I picked up my iPad a couple of months ago. Surprisingly, they were all copies of books that I already own in hardback form. They’re just great books that I enjoy being able to carry with me. I don’t think that these devices are going to kill off the paper book entirely, it’s just another way to make literary works more accessible to people.
[ Amazon ] VIA [ TechCrunch ]
I looooove my Kindle. I got it as a Christmas present this last year. I've always been a major bookworm, but I find myself reading even more with the Kindle. Books seem shorter and I fly through them faster. I also love being able to just skip to, or download, my next book. Great especially for when I'm at work and end up reading more than I thought I would during a shift.
Furthermore, love Oh Gizmo. <3.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one that's reading more now that they've got an e-reader. I too feel like I'm flying through my books faster than I used to.
Personally I'm all for audiobooks. Oddly enough though almost all the audiobooks I own I also own the physical copy of that book as well. I think its the same with ebooks, so its no wonder why the ebooks sales are higher. Ebooks are also in my opinion are alot smarter of a buy they last longer and are more durable. The only true downfall of ebooks is the loss of resale or even value of having a first edition. Interesting post though.
I love my Kindle, and it's a rare moment when you can't find the thing in my hands… however one of its great strengths is also its largest drawback. In describing the problem to someone the other day I likened having a Kindle in your hands to constantly walking past a bookstore window display. If you've got a few minutes on your hands, and nothing else grabs your attention, you'll find yourself browsing and buying a new book. The fact that e-book sales for Amazon have been growing so rapidly is bound to be due to this phenomenon.
According to research you actually read ebooks slower than real books. Looks like they're wrong it definitely feels like I'm reading quicker too.