Here's one from e-week about how their wrecking the industry http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Kindle-Nook-Other-EReaders-Wrecking-Publishing-Industry-Report-407632/
This one Margaret Atwood tweeted http://futurebook.net/content/fool-me-once
BEA is holding a special conference about the future of ebooks http://searchitfindit.bookexpoamerica.com/?action=viewevent&eventid=1486
Trust me there were many many more. These were just the one's that I flagged for this post.
So it seems to me there are camps on both sides of the e-book issue. Some believe it's the downfall of the industry, some see it as new technology that we should be embracing.
I've got to say the Simon and Shusters' quartley report (where they stated that e-books accounted for 18% of sales, but also that their overall sales were up 2%) looks pretty promising. And while I'll never give up print books, the ebook is growing on me more and more.
I jumped on the e-reader bandwagon December of 2009. See this year I originally intended to be in South Korea teaching English (which due to a number of circumstances didn't pan out) so I thought the ereader would be great to take with me so that I would always have new books. So I got one of the early Sony ereaders for Christmas. I loaded it up with some Project Gutenberg books but overall I didn't use it all that much.Now I have a confession to make...I actually have two ereaders. I may or may not be a bit of a gadget junky. Once I started blogging I began using my ereader more and more often. When you go through books as fast as I do it's nice to have some free ones (I'm referring to the Gutenberg books, not ebooks in general) and I joined some book clubs which read classic books so it was great for that too. The more I used it though the more I thought my old Sony just didn't have all the features I wanted. I toyed with the idea of getting Barnes and Noble's new Nook Colour, but I live in Canada so that wasn't really practical so I kept looking. I finally settled on....
My Kobo (sorry about the glare in the photo)!
I love my Kobo. It's definitely improved my ereading experience. It still uses eInk but it's got some nice features like a built in dictionary and it came preloaded with 100 books! It's also incredibly light and really user friendly. So now between those 100 books and my ever expanding NetGalley books it is keeping me busy. Plus it's purple!!
So there you have it. I'm an e-reading convert. I still love my print books, and my audio books so together they make this awesome bookish trifecta. I don't think ebooks will hurt the publishing industry, I think they're just another medium for publishers to reach potential readers.
But enough about what I think. I want to know, what do you think? Do you have an ereader? If so, which one and why did you choose it? Do you think ereaders mean doom and gloom for the future of publishing or do you think they're the way of the future?
I have a Kindle and I love it, which is why it became my blog's namesake. I was definitely not the type to get an e-reader. I am by no means techy, trust me; I don't even have a smartphone. I eventually caved and got the Kindle, and I have no regrets. It has a lot to offer that makes the reading experience easier.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I have not abandoned hard copies. I still buy them almost as much as I used to. It basically comes down to price for me -if a used hard copy is cheaper than the Kindle edition, I'll get it. I also have a general rule that I buy hard copies of non-fiction books so I can annotate more easily.
I don't think hard copies will go the way of CDs and DVDs. Some books are meant to be read in hardback form, like cookbooks and some non-fiction books. Also, there will always be libraries since everyone loves reading for free.
I apologize for the super long comment. :) IF anyone is wavering about getting an e-reader, just go for it! It doesn't have to be one or the other. You can enjoy all the ease that comes with an e-reader and still enjoy the smell of crisp paperbacks.
PS -Hope you stop by and enter my giveaway!
ReplyDelete~Dorothy
The Kindled Scholar
Thanks for the great comment Dorothy!
ReplyDeleteI've never used a Kindle and I'm interested to see how it would differ from my Kobo/Sony.
At first, I was strictly in the no-eReader camp as my first love will always be print books. But the more I explored, the more I liked the eReader options and I finally bought a nook.
ReplyDeleteI'm a reader, so the classic nook suits my purposes better than the tablet. I use it when I'm on the road so I don't have to pack my books, and for netGalley eARCs. Love those free eBooks as well!
Will eBooks ever replace printed books? I don't think so. I still buy print editions, as sometimes I just want to own more than a downloaded file. Plus, you can't decorate your library with eBooks! *L*
Alexia's Books and Such...
Ebooks are cool. As much as I am going to miss paper, I will get to read much more and form people who have something to really say. I guess 2 more versions of ebooks and we should be good.
ReplyDeleteThe best part of ebooks is that the whole publisher and distribution barrier is gone. Now there are people who are enabling this for every one. Check out http://www.authorator.com. This way we will be able to get stories from everyone