Re: Print books - old habits dies hard i nthe UK!

From: "Brenna Lyons"
>Since you're so fond of picking apart surveys, I will point out that this
>one is seriously flawed in several ways.

And an excellent job you do ;-).

>
>One is that it focused on the 18-60 crowd. It did not take into account how
>popular ereaders are with those over 60 and the fact that children as young
>as 10 or so may own readers or phones that double as readers. Some of my
>best friends are over 60 and are using readers to compensate for weight of
>paper books, arthritis in the hands that makes holding paper books for long
>periods difficult, eyesight, and other issues. My own daughter owned a
>handheld reader at 11. But none of those people were included in the
>surveys. So, they are skewed from the start.

And, like so many of these surveys, those taking part are self-selecting. 

>
>Also, the UK is NOT a representative model of the ebook industry, as a
>whole. Their numbers are only pertinent to people in the UK, where there is
>a markup on electronics, like ebook readers. Another problem country to look
>at is Australia. Considering their problems with simply getting and paying
>for an ereader, compared to the US, any numbers they came up with are
>affected highly by the problems with getting the readers AND with
>availability of ebooks in their area. For instance, Kindle is notorious for
>having certain ebooks available only in the US or only in the US and UK but
>not elsewhere.
>
>Brenna
>-- 
>http://www.brennalyons.com    http://www.facebook.com/brenna.lyons
>2-time EPIC's e-Book Award WINNER! "Powers or no, the Kielan are their own
>worst enemies, caught up in systematic, stagnated tradition, lost to the
>hypocrisy of classism, and defenseless despite their psi powers. Time
>Currents is a tale that I won’t soon forget." Patrice F. for Joyfully
>Reviewed

Again very good points. One interesting counter, since the survey is by HP, it is presumably skewed towards the digital positives; for that it is an incredibly high number that express a preference for the print book. Then, if you look at America, where there is something of an assumption about ereading  (that it is now dominating), we are very short of figures to confirm or deny the assumptions.

There is a lot of flux in the situation, and will be for years. I am fairly confident that a lot of the educational/text book market will stay with or return to print [though possibly in a far less costly way]. The fiction market may lean towards the digital, but I still expect it to be 50-50, with POD as part of the print count. Niches will be varied, though print - for impulse buy - will remain very visible, I think.

There may develop differences of writing style for the two forms, as well a the online communities which form around some writers. 

And I'm not sure the overall experience between the UK and US is very different, though they don't move in concert that much. Remember figures before the net and ereaders suggested around half the population rarely, if ever, read books. Most people now read extensively online, and digital books is an extension for many who would have been unlikely to read books. 

The market is also expanding worldwide with the increase in wealth in places like Russia and literacy in the third world, most of which reads English. I was fascinated in the survey we are discussing by the unexpectedly high pro-print figure - even with all the criticisms there are of it. The mix that is developing seems very healthy for culture.

Joseph


Joseph Harris is Smile Poet
Author: Smile Poet's Toilet
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