The Ebook Hype curve?
A sew BISG Survey Tracks Book Consumers’ Behavior Toward and Preferences for E-Books. The initial (Part one of three) Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading survey also found that the majority of print book buyers rank “affordability” as the #1 reason they would choose to purchase an e-book rather than a print book of the same title. Of less consequence when it came to their purchase decisions was the extent to which an e-book was searchable or environmentally friendly.
Other findings:
Roughly 1/5 of survey respondents said they’ve stopped purchasing print books within the past 12 months in favor of acquiring the e-book editions.
Most survey respondents said they prefer to share e-books across devices. Only 28% said they would “definitely” purchase an e-book with Digital Rights Management (DRM); men were more likely than women to say they would not buy an e-book with DRM.
Survey respondents indicated a clear preference for e-reader devices used as of November 2009, with computers coming in first (47%), followed by the Kindle (32%), and other e-reader devices at roughly 10% apiece.
Although certainly growing, 81% of survey respondents say they currently purchase an e-book only “rarely” or “occasionally.”
Comments
2 Responses to “The Ebook Hype curve?”
Hi Liam,
Just came across this page today! The term ‘hype’ had attracted me to the article but on reading I find that far from hype there is great substance to the surge in ebook infiltration to book market.
Why is there this general antipathy to ebooks amongst the media community?
Hi Des thanks for the comment.
To answer your specific question I guess its attached to that constant quest for the next big thing. iPad is that today and there can be a lot of seen it heard it before! However as you say this is a significant new channel, especially for self publishers and other good quality content producers.
two things worry me a bit;
a) the rush of existing content owners to reassert old business models for a new media.
b)Standards, we are big on epub and the overall approach.
Whats your experience been like?