Real Books Are Back: E-Book Sales Plunge Nearly 20%

Megalith

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
Finally, people are coming to their senses. While it’s cool to have thousands of books on a single device in e-format, nothing beats a printed book to me, as these retain their charm and soul: what I mean is that you don’t get any of the nuances in the digital version, such as font choice, page texture, format size, ink quality, etc. Sales of e-readers have reportedly declined more than 40% between 2011 and 2016. Which do you prefer?

Sales of consumer e-books plunged 17% in the U.K. in 2016, according to the Publishers Association. Sales of physical books and journals went up by 7% over the same period, while children's books surged 16%. The same trend is on display in the U.S., where e-book sales declined 18.7% over the first nine months of 2016, according to the Association of American Publishers. Paperback sales were up 7.5% over the same period, and hardback sales increased 4.1%. "The print format is appealing to many and publishers are finding that some genres lend themselves more to print than others and are using them to drive sales of print books," said Phil Stokes, head of PwC's entertainment and media division in the U.K.
 
I just function better with books. Especially if I'm trying to learn something. E books are great, I've just spent the vast majority of my life dealing with the paper ones.
 
Font and Size are the two things that digital versions allow you to change, unless I was doing it wrong the last time I read a printed book.
My e-books never fall apart due to weak adhesive or poor stitching.
As for ink quality i alway set my e-reader to display the smeared soy ink setting.
 
Digital all the way for me. It's just much more convenient. Most of the books are used to buy were tech books and with online sources and places like Safari I rarely buy books beyond a few fiction titles each year even digitally.
 
I love e-books, specially out here in NE Brazil, since it's just too much of a pain to get books in English. The girlfriend, on the other hand, absolutely refuses to use a Kindle.
Which would I prefer? Kindles certainly are great for portability and books are great due to their "feel". I'd choose e-books in most situations, unless I have an unlimited budget and can have a library at home.

"A quarter of the population hadn't read a book of any kind, whether in print, electronic or audio form." - Now that's just sad, for them.
 
One thing I will never exchange to digital is my books. Just not worth the eye ache, I already read message boards all day.
 
I can't say I have ever said to my self... "That book would have been good but the font ruined the story"

That said, I certainly understand the appeal of paper books, no charging, can loan out easily, in some cases/people easier to read etc.
 
I have hundreds of books packed in shelves throughout my home; well over 1000 stored away elsewhere. Since e-books came along, I've bought less than 10 paper-based books. I really don't miss holding books, turning pages, etc. I also read e-books much faster which helps keep my backlog to a minimum.
 
There's just something special about feeling the material and texture of a good ol paperback. Oh the ecstasy, sends shivers down my spine.
 
I just picked up Ready Player One in paperback. It was 25% cheaper than the Kindle version and i can give it to someone else when im done with it. I had it delivered to my door in under 2 hours with Prime Now. Its stupid that its cheaper to get the paperback physically delivered to me than to have it sent to my Kindle.
 
I prefer digital. You can never misplace it, can read on multiple devices, can alter font, text, and background to suit your preferences, can keep your entire collection on a device smaller than a single paperback, with the loss of a certain type of tactile feedback being the only real negative. The pros significantly outweigh the cons for me. However, I also feel ebook prices for some books are overpriced, considering the savings publishers have on an ebook version versus a physical one.
 
To paraphrase a well meme'd line from "The Dark Knight":

"NO MORE DEAD TREES!!!" :D

Or words to that effect, I suppose. Never been a voracious or even frequent reader of actual physical books, oddly enough. Never did one book report in 12+ years of school, there was always a way around it and I was always the one to find it I suppose. The mere handful of paperbacks I've read in my lifetime have been non-fiction works where I learn things, but I will say I read all the original Tom Clancy "Jack Ryan" books (never liked much else he did after those got him his big successes).

Even more odd at this point in time is that I have like 2700+ eBooks of all kinds and topics but again there's no fiction or fantasy stuff, it's all learning materials of various kinds, biographies of some folk, etc. All in the superior ePub format (personal opinion there), can be read on most anything EXCEPT Amazon hardware (their loss and part of the reason I'll never own a Kindle) - hell even my browser can open ePub files without issues if necessary.

The wife is a big reader for the fiction stuff, big "Harry Potter" fan that can read those huge tomes in a few hours or less amongst many many others she's collected over the years. To me it's just stuff sitting on a shelf collecting dust but she, like most serious readers, puts a value on those items that I may not understand or appreciate myself but that doesn't mean I won't respect her (or others) desire to own them.

Just not my thing, I suppose.
 
E-books on a Kindle Keyboard allowed my mother, wet macular degeneration in her right eye and dry in her left, to read after being unable to for 10-years. It help improve her remaining years.

Personally, I do not care for E-books. I like the feel of a book in my hands and the ability to easily page back to check something that ends up being a "task" with an e-book.

EDIT: I will add that with a physical book I can donate it to the town (population 555) library when I need to make room for "new" one. An e-book just doesn't cut it on a shelf. :D
 
E-books all the way, no need to store them. Also with my kindle paperwhite I don't get eye strain and don't have to have another light source on to read.
 
Dead trees have such soul.

Heh.

There's no bargain in e-books though. Once upon a time the physical book was 90% of the cost of publishing, yet the price doesn't drop 90% when you skip the tree carcass.
 
ebooks cost me nothing and the font used for many paperback novels is too small for my eyes. On an eBook reader I can make the font smaller or larger so no issue like in the novels with fixed font.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
Dead trees have such soul.

Heh.

There's no bargain in e-books though. Once upon a time the physical book was 90% of the cost of publishing, yet the price doesn't drop 90% when you skip the tree carcass.
Click to expand...
Pretty much true.. but the whole ebook market was a bit fucked up big publishers and apple.. I think this is a temporary setback though.
 
surfhick reborn said:
I just function better with books. Especially if I'm trying to learn something. E books are great, I've just spent the vast majority of my life dealing with the paper ones.
Click to expand...

I skim things that are on a screen, I read more carefully on paper. I don't know if this is just me or if there is a psychological or physiological reason. When I was a grad student I always had to print my papers to do the final proofing or I would miss stuff. Really dumb and obvious stuff. For my dissertation I must have killed a forest full of trees printing various drafts, but it needed to be near perfect and I couldn't do it on the computer screen.

If I really want to read something deeply, I go paper. I also just like the feel of a hardback book in my hands.
 
I only read printed books. Even comics are much better on paper.

I don't have a connection to bits of information on a flash memory. A real book however standing on the shelf always reminds me how good or bad it was. And it evokes emotions.

E-books are like alcohol free beer. Why even bother with it?
 
I love the comments like "nothing beats the feel of a good paperback".

People don't seem to remember the snobbery against paperbacks back in the day, saying "nothing beats the feel of a good hardcover".

And the hardcovers probably got shit from the folks that thought "nothing beats the feel of a good scroll", and the scroll people got shit from the "nothing beats the feel of a good stone tablet" crowd, and the stone tablet people got shit from the "nothing beats the feel of a good cave painting" crowd, and the cave painting folks got shit from the fans of "nothing beats a good fireside oral story"...

Personally, I don't think there's any damned charm or soul in a format...the charm and soul, such as they are, come from the content. And if your chosen content delivery method works for you, go for it. Ain't no need to bash on different tastes in readers, and I'm grateful we still HAVE people reading for pleasure.

Audio books, now those are the real abominations.
 
I like reading paper books better, but I prefer ebooks now simply because of space normal books take up. I am now so use to ebooks either format is fine, but for what I buy, I only buy ebooks now cause I just don't have room for lots of paper books.
 
I think the trend in e-readers really had more to do with large screen smartphones taking their place.
 
Prefer physical print media for most reading. E-books do come in handy when sitting in a deer blind waiting for the deer to start moving about.
 
I love paper for the nostalgia and memories but digital for the convenience. Unfortunately I cannot bring my phone into my work place so I am stuck with paper books during down time.
 
Uvaman2 said:
Pretty much true.. but the whole ebook market was a bit fucked up big publishers and apple.. I think this is a temporary setback though.
Click to expand...

There's also the problem with the fact that e-readers run like shit. The screens are great but these things are built to a cost so the processor is pathetic. Most of the people I know prefer to use a tablet even though the display is MUCH harder on your eyes and can't be read for shit on a sunny day, it turns out they like to be able to turn a page without waiting six months. Zooming? You need to pass the e-reader on to your grandchildren so they can see the font change size after a few generations.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
There's no bargain in e-books though. Once upon a time the physical book was 90% of the cost of publishing, yet the price doesn't drop 90% when you skip the tree carcass.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I can get printed books far cheaper than their digital counterparts.
 
Croak said:
Ain't no need to bash on different tastes in readers, and I'm grateful we still HAVE people reading for pleasure.

Audio books, now those are the real abominations.
Click to expand...
Haha what?

Otherwise I agree - whatever you prefer. I'd prefer E-Ink readers if the books were cheaper and you weren't restricted to one electronic publisher. For now, I'm mostly sticking with paperbacks.
 
Speaking of reading I use to love to read but could use some recommendations if anyone has anything?

I bought a Kindle DX a couple months ago (it's awesome, the size alone is worth it's failings) and really want to read but don't know what to read.

I am a big Michael Crichton fan, enjoyed The Dome by Stephen King, and like Dan Browns stuff up til the end when I started to notice it was becoming repetitive.

So yeah, I like sort of action suspense mystery with good writing and sci-fi/tech elements. But of course that's just what I've read.

Anyways...I love my e-reader and while I also love books the size, ability to customize fonts and layouts, and all the other features (dictionary, multiple books, bookmarks, etc) make e-readers much more enjoyable for me.
 
I like both - but have to admit I have not purchased a printed book in years. When my Kindle dies (hurry up already!), I will replace it with a PaperWhite. The backlit screen is a major upgrade.
When I travel, these are great as they are light and can hold many books. Sometimes I get bored and switch between books.
I still have some programming and UNIX books that I occasionally reference. These are probably 20 years old (maybe a bit more...) They are on my shelf and are always there. I don't have to worry about a charge, my handwritten notes persist, and the smell. Hard to describe it - except to say "old book". When I'm working on something like that, I prefer the printed book. PDF's can work - but I don't have a nicer monitor setup at work so have to switch back and forth. If I had a second monitor, it would be much nicer to use.
 
I think the downturn in ereader sales is easy to understand. The hardware has gotten slower in comparison to the tablets and phones of the day. The first generation Kindles compared well to the smart phones of the day... and not everyones grandmother had a smart phone or tablet.

The current generation of higher end readers are not nearly as slow as some people let on. The issue is the eink tech not the CPUs being used. It takes a second to update the display. It has never bothered me at all while reading. I could never imagine using a LCD on a phone or tablet for hours of reading. For a lot of people that read in shorter bursts I can understand how they are fine with a phone screen.

As for ebook sales going down, that one is more interesting. I don't think people are reading less or paper books are selling more though. I believe its more likely people are finding alternative sources, and in the case of all the how-tos and technical books that sell the expansion of good quality free information on-line has eaten into that market.
 
I prefer paper for the books I really like, some kind of special one to display and educational material. Ebooks I like for entertainment.
 
ChadD said:
As for ebook sales going down, that one is more interesting. I don't think people are reading less or paper books are selling more though.
Click to expand...

I think the whole reading craze is dying down some. Lasted a while but even I've noticed that at the restaurant I work at people seem to be reading less and less.

Can reading be a fad? Digitally maybe? It was cool to have a e-reader...now it's cool to like books again.
 
Never done the e-books. I have a bookshelf to the ceiling packed with real books. However, over the past couple years i really got into AudioBooks (i use the Audible app from Amazon) and i listen while trying to fall asleep, or replying to forum posts...super convenient.

E-books seemed pointless to me because you're still tied to a chair, reading. And the cost is similar to the actual book so might as well get that.
 
Mut1ny said:
I think the whole reading craze is dying down some. Lasted a while but even I've noticed that at the restaurant I work at people seem to be reading less and less.

Can reading be a fad? Digitally maybe? It was cool to have a e-reader...now it's cool to like books again.
Click to expand...

That is possible... I guess that people more and more have netflix and the like on the go hurts digital reading as well. I have seen plenty of obnoxious people watching videos while out and about. lol
 
I relocated too much in my life and books are one of the big PITA. I still keep some old books with charisma but all "modern" computer and tax law books I dumped,

Kindle for every thing new, sometimes they even send updates; never happen with physical books.
 
fgQ2OXX.jpg
 
I wouldnt be able to survive at my job without digital books, kindle and direct from the publisher is my preference. I am one of those people with hundreds of ebooks ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top