Rich Fiscus
19 Sep 2011 16:47
The results of a study by Harris Interactive seem to indicate the adoption of e-book readers is leading to people in the US buying and reading more books.
The numbers include both dedicated e-readers, like the Kindle, and tablet computers with e-reader apps.
Half of all the people surveyed indicated they read the same number of books per year as in previous years. That number is essentially the same for those with and without e-readers.
The difference comes in people who read more or fewer books than before. 35% of respondents with e-readers said they read more books than before, compared to just 16% of those without.
Meanwhile, fewer than 10% of people using e-book readers are reading less, compared to nearly a quarter of non-e-reader users.
It will be interesting to see if the trend continues in the future. Although the survey indicates 15% of people are likely to purchase an e-reader in the next year, that number isn't broken down between dedicated e-readers and tablets.
With even Barnes & Noble apparently moving toward tablets, it's entirely possible they won't. However, for many e-reader buyers a tablet is simply not an option financially.
And of course, publishers will play a role as well.
To date, traditional publishing power houses have been scared to price e-books competitively. In fact they have been more worried about losing hardcover sales and stopping piracy than anything else.
In other words they're taking the same approach to their digital products we've seen from record labels and movie studios. If those industries are any indication, public demand will lead reasonable pricing by several years.