Kindle books outsell hard copies this Christmas
The importance of Amazon’s Kindle device became apparent this holiday season as the retailer sold more digital books for the device than actual books. Could the publishing industry be going all digital in the not-so-distant future?
The Kindle climbed to the top of Amazon’s most popular items this Christmas, which helped spur on the deluge of book downloads. That could have created a spike in downloaded books on Christmas day, but it also signals something more for the future of the industry.
As more serious readers become Kindle owners, the bulk of the books sold will be digital downloads to the device. These heavy readers could cause sales of hard copy books to plummet, making the publishing model obsolete.
This wouldn’t necessarily leave those without the device in the cold either, as Kindle has already released an application for Windows PCs. However this would require that everyone get used to reading books from a screen rather than the familiar feel of paper in their hands.
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December 28th, 2009
time to re-invent books, mr. publisher. take a tip from the music side. I can easliy capture a song for 99 cents digital download now…in most cases, with out even paying, but when I buy the hardcopy CD, I get something more special, like a little booklet with linernotes. the DVD industry adapted as well, by putting on “DVD extras” and customers got more than just a movie.
Perhaps a hardcopy book in the future will be more than just a book. Something exclusively available only with the purchase of a hardcopy book.
Personal author autographs, for example?
December 28th, 2009
$260 to buy a reader in order to buy a $10 book. A $10 book that you cannot resell or lend out to your neighbor, relatives, children or donate to the library. The “wonders” of DRM… So in three years you have the “luxury” of sending the whole unit back @ $60 a pop when the batteries start to go bad. You might have to do this twice in 10 years.
Every time you “buy” a book for the Kindle…it is not yours, you are “granted” a license to read it on your Kindle…unless of course the publisher decides to revoke your “license” and then “your” book is no longer available.
I’d rather spend the $30 for the hardcover book and be able to resell it, or lend it out, or give it to my children or to the library. The book is mine and not subject to “grants or licenses”. If I leave it on the shelf, it will be there anytime I need it and I don’t need anyone’s “permission” to read it.