Ebooks Now Outselling Print Books At Amazon 207
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from CNN:
"As further proof of how digital media dominate today's entertainment, Amazon announced Thursday that its customers now buy more e-books for its Kindle device than all print books — hardcover and paperback — combined. Given that people seem to spend more and more of their time peering at glowing electronic screens, this was probably bound to happen. Still, the swiftness of this sea change — three-and-a-half years after the Kindle hit the market — appeared to catch even Amazon by surprise. 'Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly — we've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years,' said Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO, in a statement."
Used Book Prices Are Plummeting (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
I bought a Kindle but now I find myself exclusively buying used paper because it's waaayy cheaper (many books below $1, some $.01) and I can take the used book to the bookstore and get turn-in value which I can use to buy more books.
I've been going to the library less-often because of this. £0.01 + £1.80 (or whatever it is) postage is worth the convenience (my local library is in the same building as my local supermarket, but I'm not often in the mood for browsing books when I'm about to buy vegetables).
Also, I tend to take several months to read a book. I'm currently part-way through five books. I will donate them to charity when I'm done with them.
Re:Used Book Prices Are Plummeting (Score:5, Funny)
I'm currently part-way through five books.
I used to do that but I kept mixing up the content. For example, after reading all the books the concepts and information would mix together so I would think I learned about the "Quantum mating habits of hedge fund computers in C++" - I only read one book at a time now.
Re: (Score:3)
"Quantum mating habits of hedge fund computers in C++"
you must work on wall street
Re:Used Book Prices Are Plummeting (Score:4, Interesting)
Kindle pricing was really nice prior to Apple getting involved and the resulting publisher price fixing.
Nothing like used, but it was much better than it is now. I'm not so sure that I would have gone that route if the pricing were as it stands currently.
Re: (Score:2)
Detecting a pattern?
Re: (Score:3)
Yes exactly. As a result the number of pirated books has got to be skyrocketing. This is even worse than for music since books are so small it makes sense to download collections vs single books. Once I found eBooks costing more than paper I stopped buying them electronically. The fact that publishers actually tried to whine that printing presses cost lots of money as reason for high ELECTRONIC pricing just pissed me off to say the least. MacMillen's blog was a pretty amazing read, these people are so arrog
Re: (Score:2)
And I'm sure that there are Internet hoarders out there that have managed to download 50GB of eBooks even though they don't read. You still have to buy a printing press if you want to sell a single paper book. The reality is, though, that authors will start bypassing publishers altogether, and will start to make a decent living from selling books really cheap.
Re: (Score:2)
People only can read so much, at some point lower prices can't be replaced by more sales
Yeah, but I get the feeling that that point is a far cry lower than max(book.edition(hardback).price + 2, book.edition(paperback).price * 5) ...
If someone were to bring out some back catalogs of GOOD stuff at $1-$2 a pop, I'd happily blow through my paycheck. The books you find on the torrent sites, unlike most media where the file traders deliver a BETTER product, usually suck ass. If it's not something that was actually put out as an ebook, it's usually some horribly OCRed mess, assuming they even bother
Re: (Score:2)
I like the Kindle a lot but indeed, e-books for the Kindle are way too expensive. I once bought an e-book from Amazon for 2 US$ more than the paper version, and found out that the figures were left out! There is absolutely no excuse for that. Never again will I buy an e-book from Amazon.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, I live in the Netherlands, but here we can only buy e-books from Amazon US.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, we were better off with Amazon keeping a monopoly on eBooks.
Competition was going to come out of somewhere, one way or another. Had it not been iBooks, it would had been the Nook. But competition exists at many levels, and even if publishers lock their titles and no one else competes with those specific titles, authors are more and more deciding to just skip the publisher all-together and go directly to Amazon, resulting in cheaper eBooks that give the original author more money and a reason to write
Re: (Score:2)
Only when the competition is Apple can we say that we were better off with the monopoly ;)
Re: (Score:2)
Apple's entry into the game should have lowered the price, but it happened the other way round, as OP mentioned.
Competition is good only until market is not fixed. Apple's strategy is to fix the market with publishers/owners. Fuck them and fuck all the Apple apologists.
Re:Used Book Prices Are Plummeting (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Same here! Shipping can be a drag though.
I also note that many classics are free (on iTunes).
Re: (Score:3)
Also, you can wrangle a free Amazon Prime membership (free two-day shipping on purchases) by doing stuff like signing up (free) for at amazon.com/mom which is for expecting parents. Amazon gives you a free 6 month Prime membership to load up with.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Though I do usually prefer a paper copy.
Re: (Score:2)
I hope for your sake that your library has a better provider than mine (Overdrive). Great, lendable ebooks and not a damn one worth reading!
And Oh the Formats to Support! (Score:5, Informative)
Consumers wanting to read books electronically can now choose from many competing devices, including Sony's Reader, Barnes & Noble's Nook, and a variety of touchscreen tablets, including Apple's iPad.
They make it sound so easy and effortless! But they fail to address the matrix [wikipedia.org] of which service and format is support/authorized for which device. You can blame it on DRM or competitor lockout greed or whatever but it's still a major inhibitor in my mind.
Re:And Oh the Formats to Support! (Score:5, Interesting)
they fail to address the matrix of which service and format is support/authorized for which device
Matrix, schmatrix.
Calibre [calibre-ebook.com] finds, downloads, converts, views, organizes, tweaks, and edits just about every kind of digital book from/into just about every format. And it's free.
Re: (Score:2)
Not only that, but it is multi-platform. I have used both the OSX and Windows versions extensively and both are very nice. I doubt the Linux version is any different than these two.
It is a great app, the developer is very active (some say to a fault) and he doesn't blast you with donation begging screens every other click. It is also very simple to use, of the half-dozen Kindle users I know that also use Calibre none yet has complained about it.
Re: (Score:3)
they fail to address the matrix of which service and format is support/authorized for which device
Matrix, schmatrix.
Calibre [calibre-ebook.com] finds, downloads, converts, views, organizes, tweaks, and edits just about every kind of digital book from/into just about every format. And it's free.
So long as you are willing to crack the DRM first, which is morally irreprehensible, but illegal in jurisdictions with stupid laws like the DMCA.
Re: (Score:2)
Go on...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Firsthand experience with calibre (which I still use, but it's not perfect).
If the source file is PDF, there are some bugs in the converter that will make you lose some combinations of letters (most obvious and common I've seen is the "ll" combination. Something to do with ligatures or something). Despite forum threads from last year saying the new engine was supposed to fix this, a month ago with the latest version (as of then) it was still happening.
Even between markup-based types (epub, LIT,etc..), most
Re: (Score:3)
If the recent rumours [goodereader.com] turn out to be accurate, that matrix is simplified considerably, as epub would become the single most-supported "modern" format. Amazon's recently partnered with OverDrive, who do library e-book lending. OverDrive deals in audiobooks (mp3, wma) and ebooks (epub and pdf). It seems unlikely to me that Amazon would enter into an agreement with an entity that carries next to nothing that is readable on the Kindle.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, they can provide them in a Kindle-compatible format, but libraries would still have to buy them, just like every other book. All I'm saying is that it makes sense for Amazon to support ePub, especially in light of the partership with OverDrive, who *already* use it. That way Kindle owners could actually use the existing OverDrive titles rather than having to wait for the library to purchase them in a Kindle-compatible format, if they ever do.
Re: (Score:3)
I just made a decision on what format I was happiest with, and the rest came from there. Having decided that ePub would be best for books and PDF for magazines/other stuff, I also chose to specify that both must be unencrypted and looked for a store that sold them in the UK and a device that would read both.
WHSmith sells ePub books, but they're encrypted: so I buy them there and decrypt them myself, and keep them backed up on my PC and online. I went with the Sony Reader PRS-350 as the reader, and have been
Re: (Score:2)
Same thing happened for me. I wanted something that read ePub books well and the PRS-350 fits that. It works quite well with calibre.
It's funny about the DRM though. I haven't put a DRM'd book on it ever, but I've purchased more books for it than I have for the last few years of physical books. You don't need piracy when it's easy. You just have to make sure you crack the encryption so you can always read it in the future (or at least until ePub files stop working, instead of when the authentication servers
Re: (Score:2)
Just stick to a store that does pdf books and you are fine. I prefer epub which everything in that matrix supports except Kindle. Any other format does seem that you need to match your device to it as you mentioned. However, I am probably biased. I have an Android-powered tablet, Android phone, run Windows and Linux, and a Nook and have no problems with portability with my ebooks.
What about free books? (Score:2, Interesting)
Are they counting in free books on this? Roughly 70% of all my Kindle books are free books. Classics that I'm too cheap to pick up for $5 from Borders... And out of the other 30% about half of those were just a few dollars or less.
free and used books (Score:2)
Are they counting in free books on this? Roughly 70% of all my Kindle books are free books. Classics that I'm too cheap to pick up for $5 from Borders... And out of the other 30% about half of those were just a few dollars or less.
Exactly it said more units were sold not more dollars.. Cheap books are being sold for cheap or free to pump up the numbers. Additionally the "sales" figures are for amazon not the book market as a whole. You buy kindle books from Amazon so it focuses the demand and is not representative.
Also I wonder if they are including "new" books or "used" books in that comparison. The used book market is not insignificant but there are no used kindle books.
Re: (Score:2)
I was assuming that even though the units "sold" outnumber the paper books, the numbers are skewed because people who download eBooks are probably downloading more than they actually read. I guess it matters little to Amazon, however; a sale is still a sale.
That said, I'm honestly surprised that audio books haven't become a dominant force in this market.
When it comes to reading, I read plenty, it's just that it's very rarely for entertainment. If the time comes where I'd like to "read a book", I much pref
Re:What about free books? (Score:5, Informative)
From the Amazon press release:
"Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher."
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Too bad they.... (Score:2)
....Hate ipad users.
I'd subscribe to several of the magazines if they would let me through the ipad app... Instead B&N nook get's my cash.
Free ebooks for everyone! (Score:2)
Get your free ebooks here! No need to enrich Amazon and Apple if you don't want to.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Awesome! Just gotta wait an eternity for 2011 new releases to be on there. Hopefully Congress will allow their copyrights to expire by forever.
Gutenberg has a limit (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Use Gutenberg from a different country, such as Australia
Downloading post-1923 works from PG Australia or PG Canada in the United States is copyright infringement, as far as I can tell. Or were you referring to emigration from the United States to Australia?
Current year increases; PD year doesn't. (Score:2)
eBook Nightmares (Score:3)
My problem is what less printed material means for libraries, which is where I get almost all my print and audiobooks these days. Sure, they have Overdrive for electronic checkout of e-media. But the selection my library currently offers stinks, and the number of copies is limited!
I hope in 10 years I can still get a nice fantasy romance to enjoy, or take my daughter for a readalong...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I like the idea of just-in-time production for physical things, but I think this isn't the best place for it. At least, not for someone like me who sees a book as more than a collection of data...
Re: (Score:2)
I wish the files were transferable, in the fashion of bitcoins. Then a used market can still legitimately exist outside the publisher's control.
Re: (Score:2)
One would hope that having ebooks reduce the costs of Libraries would allow for the libraries to better serve their patrons through diversified services beyond just providing access to materials.
Re: (Score:2)
A) Saving environment, no paper waste etc.
B) Sparing trees and woods in general
C) Eliminating those water polluting paper mills
D) No storage problems, flexible, downloadable..
E) eBooks are the only way for the future, paper books are so last millenium, modern people enjoy new media and consumption driven society shoud support current media/artist/developers not some antique book business or libraries.
Re: (Score:2)
What scares me is what happens when the majority of new works have both formats, and the publishers or distributors are pushing e-media rather than physical. Will the costs to acquire a good coll
At least they don't region block paper editions. (Score:2)
I hate it when I find that I have to order the print edition and wait a month for it to arrive because the Kindle version is region blocked. (OTOH I wouldn't but any Kindle books if I couldn't strip the DRM off and convert them to EPUB because I don't own a Kindle.)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Could that be a lie? Or, is Amazon not doing well? (Score:3)
Or, is Amazon's statement an indication that Amazon is no longer the preferred place to buy paper books? Since Amazon started, there have been many, many other bookstores that have started to sell online.
A paper book last forever. An e-book lasts until an electronic reader fails, and readers that use that format are no longer available. A paper book can be read by anyone. An e-book can be read only by people who have the kind of reader for which the book is meant.
In the Oxford University library in England, I found books in the old books room that were published in the 1600s. The persistence of paper books is an enormous benefit to all humankind.
Re: (Score:2)
no, i see A LOT of kindles on the NYC subway. at least as much as paper book readers if not more. then there is my ipad 2 and other tablets. i can carry thousands of books on my ipad 2 and they won't clutter up my apartment either. in fact i'm going to try to start getting rid of some of my paper books because there are ipad versions of the media. in the case of cookbooks there are whole apps with video and detailed instructions that are easier to use than a book
Re: (Score:2)
OK, so this is anecdotal, and we all know the plural of anecdote is not data...
I buy lots of books, and I can barely remember the last time I bought a book from a source other than Amazon. Even the used books I buy I get through Amazon's marketplace. About 2 months ago I finally broke down and bought a Kindle. I bought it to use on my commute, with the idea that I'd finally get around to reading all the classics (which are free), but would rather buy paper books for anything else.
Two months later I have bee
Excellent libraries made the U.S. strong. (Score:2)
Unfortunately, sometimes digital books are arranged that they cannot be loaned by libraries.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know if an american equivalent exists but there are several yearly subscription options on this website: http://librairie.immateriel.fr/ [immateriel.fr] (sorry, it's french). It's probably not the only one of its kind.
Re: (Score:2)
Libraries should start up a bitcoin like system of digital files, whereby the can still loan the file and it would be out of their possession. Then legally, they can argue they are not breaking copyright, because they are not copying files but transferring them, just like a physical book/movie/what_have_you.
Ideally, US law should get into consumer rights now, and any commercially copyrighted content from movies to books to music dealt with in this fashion so that digital consumers can donate their used boo
Re:Could that be a lie? Or, is Amazon not doing we (Score:5, Insightful)
Two months later I have been completely converted to the Kindle. I now don't even bother looking at books that I can't buy on the Kindle. It kind of sucks, as a lot of publishers charge a premium on Kindle books (how the hell do they justify that???), and other books simply are not available. But the convenience of reading on a Kindle trumps the disadvantages for me.
Q: How the hell do they justify that???
A: But the convenience of reading on a Kindle trumps the disadvantages for me
If the convenience was worth less to you than the price difference, you'd buy the paper version.
Re: (Score:2)
You're buying only Kindle books, and paying the premium. That's how they justify that. Any other questions?
Re: (Score:2)
> publishers charge a premium on Kindle books (how the hell do they justify that???)
First, consider maybe they're not charging a premium, but book sellers are trying to shift very old stock at a loss, in an attempt to recoup any of their investment.
Secondly, in the UK e-books attract sales tax (VAT), which paper books do not; this is a lot of what pushes UK e-book prices over paper editions, but it does depend on whether you're including that in the cost.
Thirdly, they're taking a risk (or, were) that the
Re: (Score:3)
Two months later I have been completely converted to the Kindle. I now don't even bother looking at books that I can't buy on the Kindle. It kind of sucks, as a lot of publishers charge a premium on Kindle books (how the hell do they justify that???), and other books simply are not available. But the convenience of reading on a Kindle trumps the disadvantages for me.
Same here.
So for me at least, buying paper books is now a last resort.
The only print books I consider buying are professional books I need for work and can't get on the Kindle.
What I really find amazing is the Slashdot vitriol on e-books. I really get the impression that is all just a bunch of young people who:
-- don't own loads of books;
-- who never had to move said loads of books to another house/flat;
-- who never thought out the costs of having all that paper stored in a shelve.
-- have eagle eyes and don't care about small & crappy fonts
Not to mention the con
Re: (Score:2)
An e-book lasts until an electronic reader fails, and readers that use that format are no longer available.
No, they'll just be converted to the newer formats. ePub is just XHTML plus a couple of XML formats. Converting it is easy.
In the Oxford University library in England, I found books in the old books room that were published in the 1600s.
That's really useful to people who are thousands of miles from there. Besides, Oxford is building their own digital library.
Re: (Score:2)
Honestly, all I took away from your post is that you don't like e-books. That's perfectly fine, of course; I prefer the tactile sensation of a real book myself, and I certainly understand and agree with your point about old books and preserving history.
But honestly, none of that is keeping me from getting a Kindle and buying e-books. My issue is the price. I am getting less rights to my property (or should I say licensed acquistion), have to pay a $100+ premium in terms of buying a Kindle to begin with
Hold on, what? (Score:2)
Paper lasts forever? Really? (Score:2)
A paper book last forever. An e-book lasts until an electronic reader fails, and readers that use that format are no longer available. A paper book can be read by anyone. An e-book can be read only by people who have the kind of reader for which the book is meant.
OK, my wife and I own a lot of books, and I only have a few electronic versions but not e-books per se, they're PDF. As far as I know, paper does NOT last forever. Now it can last a long time of course, but it's definitley not permanent. (does this even need to be stated?) In fact, the electronic versions of books I do have (Truck/motorcycle repair manuals, etc) I got because I can have backup versions, and print out pages I need when in the garage. I think this story is more about e-book formats... bu
The old books are actually what people wrote. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It might not be specific for 1600s books, but a lot of older books are worth reading. This goes as far back as the ancient Greeks, with the Illiad, theatre plays and the works of Plato and Aristotle.
A book like the Three Musketeers or Sherlock Holmes is very enjoyable to read as well. Jules Verne, Dickens, Shakespeare, there are many I could name.
Once you get past the swords, horses and carriages, a good writer or good story is still a nice read. Most books are about people, and they haven't changed much, o
Says more about Amazon than about Ebooks (Score:2)
Until today, I have never seen anyone read from a tablet, ever... but I see people read regular paper books and newspapers on trains/buses every day.
Re: (Score:2)
Are you serious? I had to fly a couple of weeks ago and walking around the gate area I would there were roughly twice as many people reading from an electronic device (mostly Kindles and iPads) as were reading from paper. If I stop at a coffee shop on my way to work, there are always a few people reading from a Kindle. Come to think of it, I haven't seen anybody reading a newspaper at my local coffee shop for quite some time now.
I'm not saying paper is dead, but I do think ebooks are now firmly established
Re: (Score:2)
I suppose it depends on which area you live in.
In the DC metro 6 years ago, I felt all alone reading from plucker on my PalmTX on a crowded train... everyone else just read their papers / books while maybe listening to their iPods. 3 years ago, more people were on their Blackberries, in addition to papers / books and the occasional iPhone. Nowadays I haven't been commuting on the metro, but when I do, I occasionally see a few more smartphones and maybe the occasional kindle out. But I kinda expect the DC
Re: (Score:2)
I would never want to read from a tablet, but I'm starting to see a pretty high number of e-ink devices popping up around me. (Personally, I am an extremely early adopter of e-ink. Followed the tech from it's first announcement and purchased the first Sony e-Reader that had the technology.) I've always felt that e-ink is the future of e-books and don't really expect tablets to have much staying power for e-book reading as they never caught on despite the availability of similar devices for decades. (Emi
Re: (Score:2)
Here in the UK there are lots of people reading Kindles and (to a lesser extent) other e-readers on the Tube in London. It's not uncommon for me to be sat within a seat or two of someone else who also has a Kindle.
peering at glowing electronic screens (Score:2)
"peering at glowing electronic screens" I hope not. I hope they are using more merciful e-ink devices like Kindle. Wait, is there other way to read Amazon books? What is exactly "glowing" then?
Re: (Score:2)
You can get the Kindle app on iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, WP7, and PC/Mac.
Automatic synchronization across all platforms. Read a hundred pages on your Android and automatically pick up at the furthest read spot when you turn on your Kindle.
Re: (Score:2)
*Shrugs* (Score:2)
Not about glowing screens.
I had over a thousands books in a personal library. Between moving to college, moving out, moving again, they were getting destroyed or left in my basement in totes all around the house where they once were proudly on my personal book shelf. I have some in the garage sitting for about two years now.
Kindle was the first time the medium felt satisfactory. I have a kindle and an iPad to get around the Matrix, but combined I am set for my book needs. No more replacing worn out book
Bully for them (Score:2)
I can't really justify spending $10 to $12 on a novel, especially when it's just going to eat up space at home. So my choices are a) do an inter-library loan which saves me money and clutter and does nothing for the author or b) buy the book for a buck.
I'm talking about the small press stuff here. If we're talking about a mainstream author, it really doesn't feel like my financial contribution matters for squat. I don't feel like I'm supporting a local business going to a McDonalds even if it's owned by a l
The kindle's screen doesn't glow (Score:2)
It does when it's an iOS or Android device (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I like ebooks, but... (Score:2)
I'm a convert (Score:2)
What finally convinced me to switch to e-books w
Re: (Score:2)
Convert here too, though slightly different story. I'm a one-device kind of person---I don't want to carry around more than my phone. I found all e-readers unusable, unsatisfying to use. Then iBooks came.
Boy, I fell for that iBooks page turn animation like a sucker. Something about it replicated the feeling of having a real book. I don't think any other ebook reader has the same detailed 3D enhanced page-turn animation.
Sad Times (Score:2)
A few points .
Bye Bye Libraries and Second Hand Book shops, Bye Bye lending books to friends.
Seriously though - I dont own an e-reader , Kindle or Otherwise (unless you count my phone) - I really like the idea of an e-reader - But I really dont like the implications this has for the social aspect of books.
I think I speak for a lot of people in this case and for this reason I dont think there will come a day when real books dissappear.
From a techie perspective however - the idea of having a device able to d
But I LIKE to go to bookstores (Score:2)
What are we going to have instead? Besides, Isnt the searching for something to read a lot different in a bookstore? In a bookstore, you can find books you didnt know you wanted and were not expecting to be interested in. And there is no search or cover-art download delay. Are people going to bookstores and then buying an ebook once they have found the book they want? And are they going to ever offer ebooks at ridiculous sale prices like at a bookstore?
And how about the Linux mags with the CD?
The future of knowledge (Score:3)
Will take a hit due to this in the long run. Your cute convenient PDF/ebook/mobi/bla format of the month wont be around in 1000 years for our successors to read. Hell they may not survive 5 years since they are now copyrighted digital bits to be restricted, modified and deleted by the powers that be on a whim.
Sure they have their place and i have them myself, but if we lose books altogether, we as a society will lose our link to the future and past.
Re: (Score:2)
The whole statistic is misleading and self-serving. Amazon WANTS you to get your reading materials delivered electronically because they make the most profit margin when you buy an e-something.
They're leading the world in terms of complete electronic distribution of materials that favor THEM. So, of course they're starting to sell a majority of e-stuff rather than paper equivalents. The number doesn't mean that the rest of the world is doing this.
If used materials were contributing to the number, they would
Re: (Score:3)
Explain to me how you swat a fly or, in an emergency situation, rip out a page to start a fire with an E-reader?
Fine, then explain to me how you can use a papaerback book to send an email [amazon.co.uk] requesting emergency help when your phone is lost, stolen or run down!
Re: (Score:3)
Explain to me how you swat a fly or, in an emergency situation, rip out a page to start a fire with an E-reader?
1: turn off the lights, flies will be attracted to the warm E-reader glow (apparently the editor doesn't use an e-ink-based device). BAM!
2: Overdrive the LED flash on your smartphone, or simply short the lithium battery. FOOSH!
Re: (Score:3)
The problem I have with such dystopic predictions is this:
Assuming
- grid electricity is gone
- tons of hardware that needs it is still lying around; okay some may be damaged or unusable (EMP blast), need to connect to servers, etc. but the majority of it WOULD be fully working (and most data-centers would be mostly intact, if not connected externally, even in the case of nuclear blast).
You're seriously telling me that NOT ONE PERSON knows how to, say, charge a set of AA's without using the national grid? T
The books might not be PD (Score:2)