Culture

E-book sales to ignite

by LotusFlower | February 7, 2009 at 04:15 am

303 views | 40 Recommendations | 9 comments

The demise of the book has been constantly heralded by modern day Cassandra's since the web took off but book sales have actually increased and E-books have never caught on well that looks about to change with a concerted effort from the E-industry to launch E-books big time.

Some say real books will never die out - just like they said online newspapers would never take off - and now look - E-news in all its forms is seeing off newspaper sales and putting paper versions of some news companies in jeopardy.

The E-book approaches.

attic spider

purple pansies

in an old bible

At what temperature do electronic books catch fire? We're going to find out sometime this year. E-book sales are about to ignite.

On Monday, Amazon.com is expected to unveil a new version of its Kindle reader. It will probably be a lot better and a little cheaper than the first version. But the real news already broke this week: A company spokesman announced that Amazon plans to offer Kindle books on cell phones.

This news countered Google's announcement that the 1.5 million public domain books available on its Google Book Search offering will soon be available (free, of course) via a new cell phone application.

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jordan

at 06:22 on February 7th, 2009

E-book growth will not only change how books are sold, but how books are published. Material that's considered unviable by major publishers may find its niche via direct download.

This does not necessarily speak to quality, but the same argument applies to major releases, too: "marketable" and "good" are not the same thing.

LotusFlower

at 06:29 on February 7th, 2009

thanks Jordan - the question of people growing to love e-book reading devices beyond the computer will be an interesting one - e-books by the pool...

anarkissed

at 07:57 on February 7th, 2009

I've been reading ebooks for ten years now with various devices. My choice of cellphone was predicated on it's ability to display for reading. I read my local paper digitally and pay for a subscription. The future of reading is electronic and if we really do care about local print media we will financially support it with subscriptions even if we subscribe to the digital version only. Newspapers are the greatest single use of old growth forest clearcut. Changing this rests in the consumer's choices.

lynn A (not verified)

at 07:58 on February 7th, 2009

As much as I prefer to read a 'real' book, but when I think, how great it is that forests will not be cut down for the purpose of reading, makes me want to switch.

I think this is great environmental news.

amyjudd

at 13:42 on February 7th, 2009

I don't know about this e book thing - I spend enough time reading on the internet - I love the feel of a new book in my hands.

mazevedo

at 13:45 on February 7th, 2009

Great article. The whole E-books idea looks pretty good, I still haven't gotten myself one but probably will soon!

DiAnne Wood (not verified)

at 14:01 on February 7th, 2009

I have more bookcases in my house than I do TVs and I cherish my books, but I find an eBook (which I read on an HTC Touch smartphone) to be so much easier to read and infinitely more convenient to carry. A 3-ounce phone is a lot easier to hold than a 1,000-page hardcover. In bed, I don't need a booklight. When suddenly stuck standing in line at a grocery store, I can read a few pages here and there.

My only complaint is the cost. Basically, they charge $8 for a book that's available in paperback or $20+ for a new release. C'mon! Since this isn't a physical book, and I don't have the capability of sharing the book with friends and they don't have as many publishing costs, it should be half what it is. Until the prices come down, I kind of "save" my eBooks for only when I need them rather than always read via eBook (which would be my preference).

ajkohn2001

at 17:40 on February 8th, 2009

I doubt that the physical book will ever go away completely but digital books of some form will start to catch on. Kindle, in my opinion, will not be the device to make this happen. Instead, Google will be the one who really brings books to digital platforms.

They have 1.5 million public domain books available on iPhones and Android compatible phones. That means they have 5 times the titles as Kindle and an even larger base of built-in readers.

Later this year a judge will likely bless the settlement agreement between Google and the Authors Guild and American Association of Publishers. When that happens, millions more out-of-print books will be available for purchase via Google with publishers and authors getting 63% of the take on these sales.

Then it's just a matter of time before they start selling the bestsellers. Kindle will survive only if they allow users to read books downloaded from Google.

Google Books vs Amazon Kindle