Devices people are using to read e-books - stats included!

There's no question that e-reading is where we're all headed. I have a Kindle, but I prefer to use my BlackBerry Playbook, a much-maligned device that is (trust me) really an extraordinarily good 7" tablet. The Playbook got off to a rocky start a year ago not because of the tablet itself but because the maker, RIM, made some appallingly stupid marketing decisions.

I was initially resistant, but now I read almost everything electronically--newspapers and magazines usually on my PC, books on a tablet.

For us writers, of course, these developments guarantee continued confusion when we attempt to publish our masterpieces.

First thing you need to know is that this study was funded by?
Oh gosh golly: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Second thing you need to know?
The percentages listed are conditional to the respondent having internet access via one of these devises.

-Duh-

Third thing you should know:

This is part of The Pew Internet Project studying the ownership of tablet and eReader devices as part of its effort to understand how people consume media (text, video, and audio) on the devices, how people use them to access the internet, and how mobile connectivity has affected users.

So... ahem... the results here accurately reflect exactly how many choir members enjoy singing.

So, are you saying the stats are fudged?

All I know is that I make far more royalties via eBooks than through paperbacks of the same books. And that royalty isn't to be sneezed at either.

Just my personal findings.

I don't think Kelly is saying that the statistics are fudged, just that you have to read them in context and understand what they really mean.

FWIW, in the last year 100 percent of the adults in my household (wife and myself) have read most of our books on a Kindle. My wife came to her Kindle reluctantly (I gave her one a year ago), but now it is rarely out of her reach. Statistically meaningless, of course, but we have thousands upon thousands of printed books in our home, and yet took up e-readers with enthusiasm. As e-readers are increasingly given away with subscriptions (to periodicals and to series books), and as they continue to improve, they will become ever more dominant. (All IMHO, of course, but based on a lot of observation and as both reader and micropublisher.)

--Ken

Old Hack said:

I don't think Kelly is saying that the statistics are fudged, just that you have to read them in context and understand what they really mean.

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Thanks OH, that's exactly what I mean.

This study looks at a percentage of a percentage of a percentage of the general population. In as much as you might say.... mmm... survey men who use mustache trimmers?

It's not gospel, it's only a psalm. =)

merrihiatt said:

. . .The stats above were for the year 2011 and did not include tablets such as Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet.. . .

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Personally, I don't find the stats either surprising or improbable. Much depends on sample size, of course, and on how it was selected, but the numbers seem reasonable. They will tilt rapidly toward dedicated e-readers, IMHO, over the next couple of years.

I read whole books, lots of them (and some periodicals) on my Kindle; small pieces on my iPad or computer; none on phone as I don't have a suitable phone OR the eyes that would permit that. The ability to carry hundreds of books with me at all times and to buy new books (and get many free) at a moment's notice is a huge selling point. If I were polled, much would depend on exact wording of the question.

First conversation I had about the Kindle (couple of years ago) was with a man who told me he goes back and forth between his Kindle and his iPhone (he travels a lot, including overseas), as place in books is synched between the two. Very persuasive.

FWIW.

--Ken

ResearchGuy said:

They will tilt rapidly toward dedicated e-readers, IMHO, over the next couple of years.

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This is where we don't see exactly eye to eye. In the six households that make up my family, two do not have internet service, none have an iPhone or tablet, and only one has an eReader. These are all active reading people with -as far as I know- no plans for such devices. Or, if you look at where I live, over 40% of the population can not yet get internet service that isn't dial-up... but hey, numbers are numbers.

=)

It is not about the stats being improbable. It is about them not being a random sample of the reading population and as such being largely meaningless in absolute percentage terms. They do give interesting information about: of those that read ebooks, where do they read them. Which was, I think, the main intent of the survey.

That adds up to 134%?

ResearchGuy said:

They will tilt rapidly toward dedicated e-readers, IMHO, over the next couple of years.

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I disagree. Many of us don't see a need for something only used for reading and I certainly can't justify buying such a single purpose device. I'll always use my smartphone or computer, or if I can afford one, a tablet.

Shadow_Ferret said:

That adds up to 134%?



I disagree. Many of us don't see a need for something only used for reading and I certainly can't justify buying such a single purpose device. I'll always use my smartphone or computer, or if I can afford one, a tablet.

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Time will tell.


BTW, books are only used for reading. So are magazines. Lots of folks have use for those. And wait until an e-reader is given away with membership/minimum commitment in, say, Book of the Month Club or Scientific American Book Club or History Book Club. (I think they are already being given away with some magazine subscriptions.)


As for adding up to more than 100 percent -- of course. Multiple responses permitted. If you read books on a Kindle (say) AND a laptop computer AND an iPad AND a smart phone, you show up four times. Depending on the phrasing of the question, I might easily have shown up three times (all but smart phone).

--Ken

Shadow_Ferret said:

That adds up to 134%?
.

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Multiple answers were allowed. I responded to that survey and checked reader, computer and phone.

*I should also say: I have nothing at all against people buying and using these the devises, and would encourage people who want to buy them to do so, since I know so many writers that sell to this format. *

I think that this survey provides interesting information, especially when considered in conjunction with some of the other major surveys released in recent months. I find Verso Advertising's book buying survey from BEA to be both interesting to me as an editor and writer but also beneficial.

http://www.versoadvertising.com/DBWsurvey2012/

ResearchGuy said:

BTW, books are only used for reading. So are magazines. Lots of folks have use for those. And wait until an e-reader is given away with membership/minimum commitment in, say, Book of the Month Club or Scientific American Book Club or History Book Club. (I think they are already being given away with some magazine subscriptions.)
--Ken

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Books/magazines don't cost as much as an e-reader. I might accept one if it were given away free with *a* book or *a* book series. But to pay that kind of money just for the thing to read a book, then have to buy the books anyway... Doesn't make sense to me, anyway.

shadowwalker said:

Books/magazines don't cost as much as an e-reader. I might accept one if it were given away free with *a* book or *a* book series. But to pay that kind of money just for the thing to read a book, then have to buy the books anyway... Doesn't make sense to me, anyway.

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A new hardback book typically costs over $25. A typical trade paperback costs in excess of $16. Most mass market paperbacks will set you back just south of $8.

The cheapest Kindle will run you $80 new, which is a bit more than 3 hardbacks, exactly 5 trade paperbacks, and a touch less than 10 paperbacks.

While actual books for the Kindle go for anywhere between free on up to $15 for fiction, and far north of that for textbooks.

About 90% of my reading is now done on an Acer A100 7" Android tablet with the Kindle app. I use my iPad to write with and to web surf on (using it to write this as a matter of fact). I have an apartment full of print books and there's a pile on my bedside table being read, but daytime books get read on the Acer.

shadowwalker said:

. . . to pay that kind of money just for the thing to read a book, then have to buy the books anyway... Doesn't make sense to me, anyway.

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If one bought the thing to read A book, I'd agree with you. I've read dozens, if not scores, on mine since I bought it in September 2010, many thousands of pages. Many more are on the device and stored in the archive awaiting their turn. They are not adding to the piles of books on every horizontal surface in my house (including the stairs). And my wife can read them on her Kindle, too.

BTW, one can buy a complete Dickens, or Shakespeare, or Trollope, or Mark Twain, or many others, for $5 or so, and can download many classics (and occasional loss-leader new books) free. And e-books can now be borrowed from libraries, or even loaned by individual users.

Free instant preview downloads, immediate access to reader reviews, immediate access to a nice variety of magazines and newspapers, ability to annotate and highlight passages in books, and instant access to definitions (my Kindle came with two good dictionaries already onboard). Oh . . . in a pinch, the Kindle's browser is useful, even the very limited one on the basic version. With 3G, downloads and browser are available pretty much everywhere, all the time. And I can enlarge the print and make other readability adjustments and even have it read aloud to me in an adequate voice. And it will play audio books. And play music.

For that matter, sometimes I use mine to read my own stuff (books I am editing, etc.).

But each to his own . . . not going to be to everyone's taste, I grant you.

--Ken

P.S. Kinda nice to have books delivered immediately, with no need to drive anywhere. Even when on vacation. Or in the middle of the night. Or as soon as I've read the review in the NYTimes or seen the author on a talk show.

I guess my main point is that the money I spend on something to read with is money I can't spend on things to read. (And I can always download classics and other ebooks to my pc if I feel the urgent need)

ResearchGuy said:

Oh . . . in a pinch, the Kindle's browser is useful, even the very limited one on the basic version. With 3G, downloads and browser are available pretty much everywhere, all the time. And I can enlarge the print and make other readability adjustments and even have it read aloud to me in an adequate voice. And it will play audio books. And play music.

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Okay... according to the Amazon help page, to connect a kindle devise to the internet you must have access to wifi.

No wifi here. So all that stuff you just said... it don't work in my house. It doesn't work next door, or in my neighborhood.
As far as I know I have to drive about a mile and half before I find anything with wifi.

ResearchGuy said:

But each to his own . . . not going to be to everyone's taste, I grant you.

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The number of books that I purchase new each year doesn't match the asking price for one those basic pretty-shiny devises. The books I do buy, I want and need on my self because they have a voice about them that I need to have at hand.

But I write more than I read. I'm a writer, it's what I do.

So, again, the public should go buy these things like mad so I can write and sell them books to download!
I have no problem with this.

ResearchGuy said:

Time will tell.


BTW, books are only used for reading. So are magazines. Lots of folks have use for those. And wait until an e-reader is given away with membership/minimum commitment in, say, Book of the Month Club or Scientific American Book Club or History Book Club. (I think they are already being given away with some magazine subscriptions.)

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One book doesn't cost $80+ however. Books and magazines had always been inexpensive entertainment until more recently.

Now if the book clubs GAVE eReaders away, I might get one, but shelling out money for a single use product just doesn't sit well with me. That's why I'll always use a smartphone or a tablet to read, never an expensive electronic device that's only good for one thing.

eReaders seem like a step backwards in technology to me. We have computers and tablets and smartphones that we can read on, watch movies on, surf the web with, do business with, create art with, play games on, write on, communicate with, and which have countless other uses. Then someone invents an eReader and expects us to pay nearly as much for a computer for this device that does nothing more than show text, often in black and white! No thanks.

Shadow_Ferret said:

. . .this device that does nothing more than show text, often in black and white! No thanks.

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I take it that you have not actually used a Kindle. Here are things mine does:

--Downloads books, magazines, and articles virtually instantly (read a review, see an author on TV or hear on radio and download book or sample within a minute)
--Enables viewing of purchased books on other devices on the same account (my wife's Kindle, my laptop, her iPhone if she ever wanted to, my iPad) with no additional charge
--Allows highlighting and annotating, saving highlighted passages and annotations to a separate file
--Allows organizing of books and other downloaded items into named folders (for example, one for science books, another for American classics, another for poetry, etc.)
--Allows total portability, all in the same one-pound package (including cover with light)
--Enables looking up word definitions instantly (plus the other information in a college dictionary, such as etymology)
--Allows browsing of dictionaries (two good ones came with my Kindle)
--Enables Web searching (a little slow, with some limitations, but available everywhere with WiFi or 3G connection -- which is nearly everywhere, as a practical matter)
--Enables purchase (from $0.00 on up) of books, magazines, etc., 24/7, with no car expense, no shipping charge
--Provides immediate access to free book samples
--Enables note-taking via an inexpensive downloadable app, and even a variety of games, ditto.
--Displays personal documents emailed or copied to the device
--Stores thousands of books on the device itself, with online archive backup of all that have been purchased (including the $0.00 downloads) and availability of archived items on other devices on the same account
--Reads books and other material aloud, in an adequate computer voice
--Plays music
--Plays audio books
--Provides immediate access to book recommendations, reader reviews, best seller lists, etc.
--Allows larger or smaller font, closer or wider spacing, serif or sans serif, faster or slower reading aloud, etc.

Sure, I could lug around my laptop and (unreliable) wireless hot spot and use Kindle reading app on that, or could carry around my iPad, ditto. But the Kindle is about the size of a trade paperback.

Oh, for those who want color, there are plenty of color e-readers (Kindle and Nook models, Kobo models).

It is not just a reading device. It is a book store and reference center.

So . . . "does nothing more than show text"? Not so. And that is why e-readers are increasingly displacing printed books.


--Ken

KellyAssauer said:

Okay... according to the Amazon help page, to connect a kindle device to the internet you must have access to wifi.. . .

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Buy one with 3G. Works everywhere other than remote rural areas. (Cannot help you if you are in a remote rural area or, say, mid-ocean on a cruise.)

BUT you can read or have read aloud to you or played for you items that have been downloaded to the device anywhere, any time, with no wireless connection of any kind (the main purpose of the device, of course). I keep wireless turned off 99 percent of the time to prolong battery charge -- can go weeks without plugging it in with the wireless off. I turn it on for a minute or two now and again, when needed, or to let magazines be delivered.

Well, in any event, my wife and I buy several books a month (sometimes several a week), now nearly all on our Kindles. Less prodigious readers will have different cost-benefit tradeoffs.

BTW, bear in mind that a vast number of classics (and musty old books that are not classics but still have value) are available FREE. And e-books can be borrowed from libraries. (Not all, of course, but a growing number.)

--Ken