Newspapers, TV and blogsaround the world pick up on the latest stats of e-book sales and queue up in delight to tell us that the book is dead. Or is, at the very least, dying.
Dying, my arse.
The problem with stats isthat you can get them to say pretty much what you like because the real newspeople is that although e-book sales are rising at an incredible rate, that isfrom a standing start. Make no mistake they are still a LOOOOONG way away fromthe total sales of hold in your hand, paper bound, old-fashioned ones.
I was watching a newsprogramme where the interviewer was desperately trying to ignore what the bookindustry spokesman was saying when he highlighted the fact that total ebooksales are around 6% of paper ones. Because the presenter clearly follows the modernmedia dictum that says it ain’t news if it ain’t bad news.
Pisses me off, and eachtime I hear it I throw the closest thing to hand at the TV. Which is usually abook. Funny that.
These worry-monger alsopoint to the music industry and how it was affected by downloads. Again, pishand piffle. Sure downloads have affected record sales but the truth is thatMOST people still buy actual CDs.
I’ve got my e-reader buta real book is still where it’s at for me. I’ve downloaded a handful of booksonto my kindle. Well , maybe two handfuls. However, in the meantime I’ve boughtat least double that and been sent the same again in review copies. Sure mye-reader is a nice wee gadget but when it comes to settling down for a read Ikinda almost forget that it’s there and pick up a nicely packaged bundle ofpaper.
Sure, you’d be a fool toignore the continued impact of digital books but we are good distance from themever killing off the traditional version.
What about you guys? Haveyou bought an e-reader and if so how has it changed your reading habits?
