When walking into Barnes & Noble these days, you'll notice less of a crowd, unless of course you're heading straight for Starbucks to get your daily latte. The Barnes & Noble in Framingham has changed the layout of its store and has added a large area in the front of the store solely for Nooks, Barnes & Noble's brand of tech books.
In comparison to the Kindle, Amazon's brand, they haven't sold as well. However, Kindles, Nooks, Sony's brand, any form of e-book are being scooped up by thousands across America. According to the article
E-Book Sales Now Surpassing Actual Book Sales (Cars, However, Continue To Refuse To Fly) found here: http://www.mediaite.com/online/e-book-sales-now-surpassing-actual-book-sales-cars-however-continue-to-refuse-to-fly/, Amazon has said e-books outsold hardcovers for the past three months (as of July 2010).
Although many avid readers boycott e-books, it does have its upsides.
As an English major, I'm constantly buying books for my classes, which as inexpensive as they seem add up 20 books later. I also enjoy reading during my free time, so prior to getting my Kindle, I could be found at least a few times a month at Barnes and Noble, stocking up on the latest novels by my favorite authors. Now, with my Kindle I can access hundreds of thousands of books at my fingertips at any time of day. The books are a .pdf format and are cheaper than many paperback books and most hardcovers. There are also many free books, which include the classics like Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, etc.
While the smell of a book's crisp pages will always be nostalgic, I will never go back to anything real books with the exception of children's books. I not only save hundreds of dollars, but I can also keep them in one place, take notes and bookmark any pages I want. It has the ability to read to me in two voices and I have the option of changing the font size as well.
Books, in my opinion, might not be selling, but they will never go out of style. A Kindle cannot replace a cookbook, children's bedtime stories or textbooks. They might be offered in an e-format, but books will continue to be published as long as we continue to buy them. While novels are best for me in e-format, some books should never leave their bindings.
Hate to break it to you, but you're not actually buying a book when you put it on your Kindle. Instead, you're paying a licensing fee. You don't actually own anything, any more than if you were leasing a car or renting an apartment.
ReplyDeleteAt any time, Amazon.com has the legal and technical ability to remove anything from your Kindle, including those notes and bookmarks you're so pleased with. See http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/08/kindle-lawsuit-protecting-readers-future-abuses
When MP3s became popular, record companies urged resellers to use DRM and subscription based services. Here, Amazon has taken that same step to control intellectual property. People will continue to buy it because convenience will trump the thought of an Orwellian society.
ReplyDeleteIts a small price to pay.
Renting a book without actually owning it? That sounds like a library, just more expensive and without the inconvenience of finding an available book, and then having to return it without notes a week later.
Regardless, it still doesn't change the fact that there are many more E readers out there, many without any DRM at all. It may be making books cool again!