This is a bold statement, and something that I never dreamed that I would ever be saying.
As I’ve said before when talking about switching my book-buying to Kindle, I am actually very pro “real” books, and in many ways nothing can beat the experience of owning hard copies of books.
It’s funny how technology can take you by surprise.
It’s all well and good when you see technology slowly progressing and its great, but sometimes I just get plain shocked by relatively new technologies exploding!
So here it is, the shocker, revealed:
In the last 3 months of 2010 Amazon US sold more ebooks for Kindle than paperback books.
When I read that I was left absolutely speechless. I mean, what do you make of that massive shift in culture? To me this is huge news, and extremely telling about where things are moving and how people are changing in their interaction with mobile devices.
I think that this is why we need to be people who have our finger on the pulse of culture and technology, constantly aware.
Maybe you were someone who saw this coming. I didn’t. Maybe you also saw how big the iPad and tablet devices were going to become. I hated the idea of iPad when it was first announced. Now I am writing this blog post on one!
So, this is big news, whoever you are and whatever you do. If you are a Christian writer or publisher especially, you have GOT to get your content on Kindle. After all, we are all about resourcing the church and having our finger on the pulse of culture and technology, right?
Thoughts?
Phillip Gibb says
hmmm,
The idea of having your library available at the push of a button or to get the book you want instantly is great. I have been waiting almost 2 months for a book from amazon, if I had gotten the kindle version I would have finished reading the book already, hmmm,
On the negative side – I am completely retro when it comes to books – they are a collection item, something I can put into my pine wood book case like a trophy. There is also something about the tangle physical experience of interacting with ab actual book that just does it for me; hoooawwahh.
Maybe there should be options to purchase both types without breaking the bank, and that the kindle version is color on certain devices for those more technical kinds.
James Brooks says
I think it would be great if when you bought a paper book you also got some kind of access code to download it. Someone needs to invent a fair way of doing that. It would be the answer to all of my book-reading-problems!
CK Hicks says
Hmm, sort of like the idea of digital copies when you purchase movies? I like the sound of that…
James Brooks says
Yeh, I think it would be great!
Adam Shields says
Even thought ebooks sales are increasing very rapidly, they are still way below paper books. Especially when you think globally. In the US, ebooks are about 10-15 percent of sales when the ebook is available. But worldwide, much, much less.
Michael Hyatt had a good post about why he thinks that ebooks will plateau in a couple years, then it will take a while to get past that.
Personally, I still buy about 1/3 of my books paper because at least that many are not available on kindle.
James Brooks says
Good point Adam.
Being someone who is wanting to switch to Kindle I find myself getting very frustred when books I want aren’t avaliable on Kindle!
Michael Hyatt says
For an alternative view, last week I wrote a post called “Four Reasons Why e-Book Sales Growth Will be Slower Than Publishing Executives Think.”
Despite Amazon’s press release, it doesn’t represent the entire industry. They are about 10% of it in the U.S.—even less worldwide. And, of course, they have the largest market share of e-readers.
Ninety-five percent of all our books at Thomas Nelson are available for sale now on the Kindle, Nook, and iPad. We make as much margin whether the sale is print or digital, so we are format agnostic from a financial perspective.
Still, I think the rate-of-growth will be much slower than Amazon wants us to believe.
Thanks.
James Brooks says
Hey Michael, thanks for your thoughts.
I think it’s great that Thomas Nelson are offering so many of their books on Kindle. Even though the ebook market is still relatively small, as you quite rightly point out, the figures that we ARE seeing are still very significant indeed.
I am so passionate about the church keeping on the pulse and this is a great example 🙂
Joanna says
I suspect at the moment it is probably a cultural change isolated to America. The ebooks thing doesn’t seem to have fully caught on in Australia. The ebook readers you can buy in stores here are generally overpriced, under-featured and linked to ebook stores with poor, overpriced selections. I don’t think I know (or have even seen) anyone using a locally purchased e-reader. Some people (including myself) have kindles acquired from overseas but that wouldn’t be huge numbers of people.
James Brooks says
Interesting, thanks for your thoughts.
Matt Ralph says
I’m waiting to read the press release for a study that shows people read even less of their e-books than they do of hard copy books because they are distracted by all of the other things that are easy to be distracted by while hooked up to a machine that can access an endless supply of information and “must-read” books in seconds.
I see it sort of as the equivalent of downloaded music versus physical CDs. With a physical CD you’re more likely to listen to it all the way through instead of listening to one or two songs and skipping to something else. In this respect, the coming trend of “breaking the book” makes a lot of sense.
Personally, my reading of dead-tree books has increased in recent years because it has become an escape from the endless distraction of being attached to electronic, internet-ready devices. If I were to go the e-book route, I know myself well enough to know that I would finish far fewer books than I do now. While it may encourage reading for others, e-books for me would more or less mean not reading very much.
Adam Shields says
Pretty much everyone that I know that gets an ebook reader says that they have read more since buying the reader. I am sure there are those that do not. But most do. It is also why I think kindle is a better reader than iPad. Because I do get distracted on the ipad, but I read on the kindle.
James Brooks says
Matt, I think that I am going to have to agree with Adam. Personally, since I have started using Kindle I read a LOT more. All my books come everywhere with me so it WAY more convenient.
Also, I guess because I am very involved with blogging I am quite used to reading on my various devices.
Jared Folkins says
Interesting post. I’d like to chime in.
I got my Kindle for Xmas from my mother. I have read approximately 1200 pages from two different novels. Both times I found myself getting lost in the author’s words, and not even realizing that I was holding an eReader. This is a serious #win!
Where the Kindle royally fails, is in the textbook category, which to me, is the “dream” market. I have over 200 lbs of books what I would love to carry around with me. Wonderful computer science books that I reference on a monthly basis.
But as I purchased 3 programming/technical books from Pragmatic, I made sure to get both the .mobi eBook files as well as the physical copies too. I tried to use the Kindle for about two weeks for technical books and realized it just wasn’t going to work.
With textbooks, my work flow is to read and skim, and then obviously once I get the overall context of a chapter, go back and re-read the parts that I have deemed important. This is reading in a non-linear fashion, and Kindle cannot currently emulate that experience.
Amazon tried to get colleges to adopt the Kindle DX, and despite the advantages, it has pretty much been rejected.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011938870_kindle24.html
Summary:
For those who want to read novels or works that are linear, the Kindle is awesome! Otherwise, I’d save your cash until an engineer comes up with a way to streamline the textbook reading.
James Brooks says
Hey Jared! Thanks for giving us a different perspective on this! I’d never considered how hard it might be to do textbook stuff with Kindle, but I imagine that you are right on the money in what you are saying.
Scott Cheatham says
Don’t forget the rest of us who have Sony Readers, Nook’s and similar devices. Amazon may have a stranglehold on the market at present but I see that changing soon with other devices now having wireless purchases, similar pricing, and a book format that stretches across devices (ePub) EXCEPT for Kindle.
I was an early adopter and purchased a Sony Reader a few years back and it has held up very well over time. If I purchase another reader in the future, it will likely be a Sony and not a Kindle.
James Brooks says
Hey Scott.
Although I agree that Kindle isnt very flexible, my personal view is that this is going to be a scenario similar to the iPod. I think that unless someone acts REAL fast, Kindle will always be the big boy.
Adam Lehman says
I would have said digital books will NEVER overtake physical books.
But my sister got a Kindle for Christmas and it was in MY hands most of the holiday. 🙂
I loved reading on there. So much.
I’m converted.
James Brooks says
🙂 Yehp!
Erica says
I personally pray that the production of “real” books does not stop. I am okay with the idea of others wanting to read on a electronic device, and I understand it’s convenience, but I can’t see myself loving a kindle or Nook more than an actually book. As of know I have about a hundred books and reading over 90 of them and the only reason I would get a kindle (or others like it) is because I ran out of room. I love the book shopping experience too much to replace it. I love the atmosphere, the smells, the quiet, and the feeling of having unlimited possiblity visibly infront of me. I love to walk through the romance (my favoriate), black literature, english/education section and pick up a book one by one and examine it. I love the sound of real pages turning, that’s something you can’t hear with an electronic device.. Nothing can replace it, nothing.
I guess that makes me old fashion. And I’m only twenty-three years old!
Eric Dye says
I know what you mean. My wife has our house FULL of books (compared to most poeple).