E-book sales to ignite

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.

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.

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).

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

Added pic to illustrate the vast quantity and variety of the E-Books available online via Torrent

download:

http://my.nowpublic.com/node/2158799/file/dc/3/dc354aaae17f2e5189928b2e0b0eb5a7.jpg

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...

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.