Nearly a Third of Americans Now Own an E-Reader or Tablet - Polidicks

"A new Pew study sees a sales surge in digital reading devices. Here's why we should be wary." [img]http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/assets_c/2012/01/pew_ereader_cut-thumb-615x414-75541.png[/img] [quote]Pew has a report out this morning examining the sales performance of tablets and e-readers over the holidays. While the study, based on three surveys conducted between December 2011 and January 2012, breaks down e-reader and tablet sales according to gender, education, race, and income, its headliner findings concern the population at large. The key conclusion: "The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18 percent in December to 29 percent in January." Or, as The New York Times sums it up, "Tablet and e-reader sales soar." The numbers are, indeed, striking: That's an 18 percent-to-29 percent leap in overall device ownership -- over a period not of years, not of months, but of weeks. And it means that, altogether, nearly a third of all Americans now own some kind of e-reading device. As Pew's Lee Rainie notes, "These findings are striking because they come after a period from mid-2011 into the autumn in which there was not much change in the ownership of tablets and e-book readers. However, as the holiday gift-giving season approached the marketplace for both devices dramatically shifted. In the tablet world, Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble's Nook Tablet were introduced at considerably cheaper prices than other tablets. In the e-book reader world, some versions of the Kindle and Nook and other readers fell well below $100." So: Increased cost efficiency leads to increased audience for your products leads to increased market penetration leads to nearly a third of all Americans owning at least one of your devices. Makes sense! I wonder, though, whether there isn't some bad news for Apple, Amazon, and other manufacturers baked into the Pew stats. Because, again, the sales surge Pew is documenting comes after a stretch of stagnation -- "a period from mid-2011 into the autumn in which there was not much change in the ownership of tablets and e-book readers." It took the holiday spending frenzy to recharge sales. And while the summer-to-fall flatline could have been simply a matter of classic delayed gratification -- people waiting for the holidays to buy iPads and Kindles for themselves and for others -- it could also be that the holiday boost is more an anomaly than an indicator. Holiday gift-giving has never been a particularly steady determinant of a product's ongoing appeal; if it were, I might have emerged from December 2011 as the proud owner of a Tickle Me Elmo or a Popeilian food dehydrator. But, no. No, I did not. And part of that is because holiday gifts, while there are some that stay with us, year after year -- bath products, knit sweaters, socks -- are, as cultural phenomena, generally pretty ephemeral. Holiday gifts are just that: gifts. Which means that they're often whimsical, and often impractical, and often, more importantly, based on a kind of reverse-market logic that puts the gift-giver in the role of the anti-market speculator: You buy that thing for your friend precisely because it's a thing she wouldn't buy for herself. In the context of gift-giving, a product's impracticality -- its status as a kind of extra-market commodity -- is part of its appeal. The Kindle Bump could well be a reflection of that logic in action. Which doesn't mean, of course, that the iPad will go the way of the Elmo. Far from it. Population-penetration-wise, nearly-a-third is nearly-a-third. And the devices in question here aren't just products in themselves, but rather gateways to further sales on Amazon's and/or Apple's and/or others' commercial platforms. As reflections of overall revenues, the hardware sales numbers are amplified, almost -- almost -- implicitly. Still, though. It's worth a moment of pause as all those "huge sales numbers for tablets and e-readers!" headlines make their way around the web today. When it comes to market penetration, the how can be just as important as the how much. Devices' staying power, on a cultural level, is hard to measure in the short term -- which means that data about e-reader usage will be much more meaningful than data about e-reader sales. In its surveys, Pew also asked respondents about their "their reading habits and their interactions with their libraries related to e-books and other digital content." The results will be released in an upcoming report, and will likely be fascinating. E-readers are certainly trendy; the more interesting question, though, is whether -- and, more likely, how -- they actually become a trend.[/quote] [url=http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/01/nearly-a-third-of-americans-now-own-an-e-reader-or-tablet/251799/]SOURCE[/url]

Good for technology, bad for book stores. [editline]23rd January 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=The golden;34359102]I wish they would stop calling Tablets as eReaders. They both do very different things. In fact, many tablets are actually quite difficult to use for reading purposes.[/QUOTE] [quote]The numbers are, indeed, striking: That's an 18 percent-to-29 percent leap in overall device ownership -- over a period not of years, not of months, but of weeks. [b]And it means that, altogether, nearly a third of all Americans now own some kind of e-reading device.[/b] [/quote] They're not classifying tablets as eReaders, they're just talking about portable devices that are capable of reading e-books at a sufficient size. AKA tablets and eReaders.

we are the 66% keep bookstores alive

This is certainly news to me, its not like I walk around and see idiots using Ipad's every single day and it makes me think to myself how much I want to shoot them for using a Ipad/being mainstream about their tablet choice.

[QUOTE=doonbugie2;34359160]This is certainly news to me, its not like I walk around and see idiots using Ipad's every single day and it makes me think to myself how much I want to shoot them for using a Ipad/being mainstream about their tablet choice.[/QUOTE] what, you wanna shoot them for using an Ipad?

[QUOTE=Uncle Bourbon;34359180]what, you wanna shoot them for using an Ipad?[/QUOTE] I was being sarcastic, but still you're missing the point entirely.

I have trouble believing 1/3 of Americans read.

[QUOTE=Judas;34359232]I have trouble believing 1/3 of Americans read.[/QUOTE] You'd be surprised. Books require you to go to store or library and buy/rent them and then lug them around and stuff. Reading with eReader is so much more fun.

[QUOTE=Judas;34359232]I have trouble believing 1/3 of Americans read.[/QUOTE] Picture books?

[QUOTE=Judas;34359232]I have trouble believing 1/3 of Americans read.[/QUOTE] Any other nation with a much smaller wealth gap would be before Americans.

I personally wouldn't buy an iPad but if I were given one I certainly wouldn't appose to using it. I played around with my grandpas when visiting but after the first few days the novelty wears off, I couldn't imagine using it that often other than when I travel

[QUOTE=Jasun;34359267]Picture books?[/QUOTE] thats what my grandma makes. Interactive children's books for tablets.

[QUOTE=doonbugie2;34359212]I was being sarcastic, but still you're missing the point entirely.[/QUOTE] i guess you failed then :v:

[QUOTE=The golden;34359401]Of the people who I know that own iPads (or any other tablet, really) they don't use it for anything other than those little app games or other gimmicks and bragging rights. There is a reason why any serious businessman or someone who needs a reliable portable computer uses a netbook or notebook laptop. For the same price as some of these tablets you can get a meaty netbook which is infinitively more usable during real-world activities. The tablets which can unfold and turn into laptop with keyboard are amazing devices. I can see the use of those. But a touchscreen only tablet? No thanks.[/QUOTE] Tablets are being used very effectively in various sectors, such as education and the medical field. There are many uses of tablets other than 'gimmicks and bragging rights', and you can't base your opinion solely upon "of the people who I know".

[QUOTE=Judas;34359232]I have trouble believing 1/3 of Americans read.[/QUOTE] Are you kidding? Glenn Beck's books are all the rage!

[QUOTE=The golden;34359539]Alright, here have some more thoughts on the matter then: I met with the Head of Technology of my School Districts Board of Administers and we were discussing tablets vs laptops because apparently the Board wants to outfit several schools with more portable computers. She told me that the Board (and many of the teachers from the 5 or so schools that were being a part of this experiment) were swaying towards laptops over tablets because they believed that they would be much more usable for school activities and more flexible for students with special needs.[/QUOTE] Just because some schools don't want to use them it doesn't mean that they're not beneficial to education.. That's like saying that because my street's house doors are painted white that means that every street has their doors painted white. [editline]23rd January 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=The golden;34359539]Alright, here have some more thoughts on the matter then: I met with the Head of Technology of my School Districts Board of Administers and we were discussing tablets vs laptops because apparently the Board wants to outfit several schools with more portable computers. She told me that the Board (and many of the teachers from the 5 or so schools that were being a part of this experiment) were swaying towards laptops over tablets because they believed that they would be much more usable for school activities and more flexible for students with special needs.[/QUOTE] Just because some schools don't want to use them it doesn't mean that they're not beneficial to education.. That's like saying that because my street's house doors are painted white that means that every street has their doors painted white.

1/3 of Americans own a tablet. And 1/3 of them actually have an use for it :v:

I bought my dad an ereader and he loves it. The books are fantastically cheaper too, and it doesn't use paper which is good for the environment (other than the plastic, but that's a one time deal compared to thousands of books). I also find myself reading [I]more[/I] because of the ereader because they're so accessible, and there are always sales.

[QUOTE=Judas;34359232]I have trouble believing 1/3 of Americans read.[/QUOTE] [t]http://www.rarebookschool.org/2005/exhibitions/images/dickandjane/airplane2x.jpg[/t] There's at least half of that third.

[QUOTE=notlabbet;34359149]we are the 66% keep bookstores alive[/QUOTE] Buy an eReader, never go back

[QUOTE=Sergeant Turtle;34359826]Buy an eReader, never go back[/QUOTE] I have a local bookstore I go to all the time called Bookshop Santa Cruz. It opened in '66, Its been through the '89 earthquake and is a huge part of the community. I never want to see it go out of business.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;34359253]You'd be surprised. Books require you to go to store or library and buy/rent them and then lug them around and stuff. Reading with eReader is so much more fun.[/QUOTE] I've read 6 books this [i]year[/i]. Before I got my Galaxy Tab 10.1, I had read 3 books :v: I'm 17 years old. It's far easier to read on the tab than books, much more convenient too. I can most certainly suggest it.

Yeah, it's amazing how useful an eReader is. I own a Kindle 3 (now known as the "Kindle Keyboard") and the Kindle Fire and I love them.

[QUOTE=Sumap;34359761][t]http://www.rarebookschool.org/2005/exhibitions/images/dickandjane/airplane2x.jpg[/t] There's at least half of that third.[/QUOTE] Holy shit tone down the paragraphs I can't read that shit. on topic: I buy physical books and eBooks, fuck yeah.

I have neither, and don't plan on getting anything like it.

I am a proud owner of my iPad wooo

I never got it. They are like more expensive dumbed down netbooks.

[QUOTE=imasillypiggy;34363233]I never got it. They are like more expensive dumbed down netbooks.[/QUOTE]Most are, though the Kindle Fire is different in the opinion of most in the industry There's a reason why they called it a "media consumption device," it's a device where those who use Amazon services (like me) can have all their stuff in a nice package

[QUOTE=Sumap;34359761][t]http://www.rarebookschool.org/2005/exhibitions/images/dickandjane/airplane2x.jpg[/t] There's at least half of that third.[/QUOTE]Is his dick going up?

[QUOTE=notlabbet;34359976]I have a local bookstore I go to all the time called Bookshop Santa Cruz. It opened in '66, Its been through the '89 earthquake and is a huge part of the community. I never want to see it go out of business.[/QUOTE] buying an e-reader doesn't preclude you from buying physical books just as many people still buy vinyl and have ipods