This Kindle article by TheStreet's Terry Savage didn't seem all that newsworthy till I noticed this excerpt towards the end:
Amazon also says Kindle owners purchase 2.6 times more books downloaded into Kindle than they did before -- and the Kindle has been available only since late last year.I don't recall seeing that stat before but it seems fairly significant. I wonder if Kindle owners are actually reading almost three times as much as they did B.K. (Before Kindle) or if they're just gobbling up the content because they're concerned the $9.99 prices might not last forever...
6 comments:
I definitely am. Part of it is the novelty, no doubt, but it's also just so convenient. A few weeks ago my car was in the shop, and I had to sit there for almost 4 hours. I had my Kindle, so I looked around in the "Your Recommendations" section, found a book I'd heard great things about (The Winter of Frankie Machine), and downloaded a free sample. It grabbed me, so I bought it right then and there and read a big chunk of it to pass the time. Jeff Bezos sold me a book in the waiting room of a Goodyear shop. He is a genius.
Speaking personally, I seem to be buying more Kindle books than I would ever buy of the dead-wood type. For one thing, the price is pretty good ($9.99 in most cases) and the other factor is that I will never need to find shelf space for the book. I'm completely out of shelf space for any more books, thus my impetus to purchase a Kindle.
Likewise, the convenience of always having your library with you, the economics of lower prices, and the convenience of being able to look up books and purchase them at unusual places/times, means I'm back to reading more books than ever.
I suspect that part of the reason for this is that Amazon is able to consolidate purchasing behavior--in my case, since I invested in and enjoy the Kindle, Amazon has become the first retailer that I shop with, vs. one of many before the Kindle.
Tyler Steben
Ann Arbor, MI
I don't think I'm buying more books, but I am now only buying e-books, and most of them are from Amazon. Before the Kindle, I bought my books at Barnes & Noble.
Instant gratification plus not having to find space for my books has replaced "real" books for me.
That being said, I won't pay more than 9.99 for any book. I think the $9.99 has led me to start reading non-fiction. That and the fact that I can sample it first before actually buying it.
Hiya...
I'm very much a book addict. And like one of the other commenters, I've long ago run out of bookshelf space at home.
Unfortunately, I don't have a Kindle, cos I live in South Africa.
What I HAVE discovered, though, is the MobiPocket Reader. On my phone, to be precise.
And I'm finding that I'm buying LOADS of eBooks from fictionwise.com. Loads more than I would if I were purchasing paper books.
And here's the rub... all you lucky Kindlers are getting US$10 books. MobiPocket books are pretty much the same price as retail books.
So why'm I buying so many books?
1. Amazon's shipping prices to South Africa have recently shot through the roof, thanks to widespread theft at the South African Post Office. Blah.
2. eBooks are just SO much easier for me to transport. I normally have at least three books in my satchel at any given time. And that just nails my back, given that I normally carry my overweight Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc around with me wherever I roam.
3. Right now, the paper books with me are YES!, INSTANT LIFE COACH, THE NO ASSHOLE RULE, IDEAS MAN, and THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN. While it's kinda easier to read paper books, it's not easy to annotate them. eBooks are just a dream to make notes in. I love it.
4. South Africa is the arse-end of the world of books. We have a book-buying public that numbers around 900 000 according to a publisher's estimate approximately four years ago. (I have no reference for this. It came out of a conversation I had with someone.) This means that many of the books that grab my imagination have to be ordered in from overseas. with my MobiPocket habit now in full gear, I whimsically hit 'check out using PayPal' on my phone or computer, and I have my book. I love love love this.
5. I WANT a damn Kindle. Even if I have to stock it manually. Dammit. Amazon! Wake up!!!
Oh. Hang on. That's not a point. It's just a desire. Ah well.
The argument I'm making here is that the price isn't the be-all and end-all. It's something much more interesting. It's access. The Kindle is the access revolutioniser.
Blue skies
love
Roy
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