E-books are taking over the world
Amazon's Kindle is having a good year.
According to a press release, the e-book reader is not only the most popular item on Amazon.com -- and has been for two years now -- but the e-books have begun outselling traditional hardcovers. For the past month, 180 e-books are sold on the site for every 100 hardcovers. And that doesn't even include all of the free books that readers like me and Gail Farrelly pick up nearly every day.
Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, says the lowered price of the device should be credited. “We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle — the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189,” he said in the press release.
And while you're spending the big bucks on the device, and augmenting your digital library, you're going to want a few accessories to keep your baby safe. (Is it weird to refer to my Kindle as "Baby?" Oh well.) Tomorrow I'll post a review of a few such accessories by Maryland-based company M-Edge.
But for those purists out there, I wouldn't worry yet. The same release brags that authors such as Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson and Charlaine Harris have each sold more than 500,000 e-books. Considering the tens of millions of books each of these authors has sold in total, that's just a drop in the ocean.
Comments
I have no interest in owning a Kindle or any other e-book reader. Although I think they are innovative and wonderful for people who desire them, it's not for me. I do not buy books and am a voracious reader of library books. I don't have the money or space to invest and utilize my library to the fullest. I will say that Kindle has forever solved the problem of dog-earing books though...
Posted by: MarylandMom | July 20, 2010 11:12 AM
As an author who has connected with many wonderful readers through the Kindle, i can say this is the most exciting development in the history of publishing. Well, maybe not "publishing," but certainly reading and literature.
Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com
Posted by: Scott Nicholson | July 20, 2010 3:37 PM
I have to say, e-books make me feel a little queasy. Books should be paper- for dog-earing, running fingers over the edges of pages, maybe even peeking to the end a little? Yeah, I know, shame on me. But... it's a tactile thing!
I might change my Luddite view if I got a chance to use an E-reader with controls and an interface I liked better than the ones I've seen so far.
The only time I feel pro e-reader is when I'm packing for vacation.
Posted by: Elizabeth W | July 21, 2010 2:47 PM