Posted on 07/20/2010 1:19:19 PM PDT by abb
The Amazon.com Kindle e-reader and bookstore have reached a "tipping point," the company said Monday, with Kindle titles outselling hardcover books on the massive online marketplace for the first time.
"We've reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle--the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189," Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in an announcement release, referring to last month's price drop for the device. "In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books--astonishing, when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years and Kindle books for 33 months."
And Kindle titles continue to outpace hardcovers, statistics from Amazon showed. In the past three months, 143 Kindle books were sold for every 100 hardcovers, but when that time frame is narrowed to a month, it's 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcovers. Total e-book sales tripled from the first half of 2009 to the first half of 2010.
This comes despite months' worth of claims of naysayers who speculated that Apple's sophisticated iPad might render obsolete e-readers like the Kindle. But with prices higher in Apple's iBooks store than for many Kindle titles, and a Kindle app available for both the iPad and iPhone, the supposed death of the Kindle seems far less imminent. Some have even surmised that the discrepancies between the devices may play to Amazon's hand rather than Apple's.
Amazon is slated to announce its second-quarter earnings on Thursday, and analysts are speculating that it'll post an extremely strong quarter.
Wish I could afford one. Also, too many stories on Amazon.com of them not honoring the Warranty. And it’s $109 to extend the warranty to 2 years.
I bought my wife a Kindle for her birthday. She loves it.
There are several advantages to it. Books are cheaper. She can get what she wants within a minute (regardless of where she is) and it is lighter than a traditional hard back book.
The only disadvange is you do not end up with a hard cover you can trade in at the used book store, but that was always a minor consideration.
A surprise was we can actually sign on to FreeRepublic via the Kindle. It is not a full function screen, but it is good enough to read headlines and some stories.
This may skew the number-of-titles stats, but it does nothing to lessen the fact that total number of Kindle sales exceeds hardcovers. While there are of course exceptions, the sad truth is that most self-published material is garbage and most self-pub titles sell no more than dozens of copies, no matter the format.
bump
Tons of classics for free too. Also, if you check here: http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_85650291_15?ie=UTF8&node=2245146011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=10VF3HGRR809QZ9JR6FF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1268594442&pf_rd_i=1286228011, there are limited time promotional offers for free novels, etc! :~)
I am the proud owner of maybe 3,500 hardcovers and I only wish I had maybe 1,500 more, mainly to fill gaps in my World War 1, World War 2 and Soviet Union collections. Family members think I’m extravagant because I spend any spare money I get on books and classical music — as opposed to permitted extravagances like big cars, boats, furniture, consumer electronics, vacations, golf, theater tickets, etc.
Honestly, I’d rather read a book or listen to Beethoven in the comfort of my home. I wouldn’t know what to do on a cruise or resort vacation. I’d probably just drink too many of those cocktails they pass out with the fruit and umbrellas on top — and maybe wind up passing out myself.
Books are things of beauty in a way no electronic device can ever be. On a couple occasions recently, I had to tough out the eyestrain and read an entire book from a pdf file. One of them was conservative sociologist Edward Banfield’s classic “The Unheavenly City,” which is still relevant after about 40 years.
Still, I never would have done this if my local library had a copy. I wanted to read Banfield and I didn’t want to wait for interlibrary loan. It’s for situations like this that I can see the value of a Kindle or some other reader. But print will always be my first choice — books are relaxing but I can’t imagine curling up on the couch with some electronic tablet.
If you want beauty in your life, spend some of your disposable income on fine books and classical CDs. Then enjoy them and don’t worry about being a called a technophobe.
You still read Burke? I finally couldn’t stand the anti-Republican crap he spewed in every book.
This may sound strange but one of the great joys of my life is curling up at night with my dogs, a beverage of choice and a real book. I love the feel, the smell, the weight of it in my hands. I can get lost for hours in a bookstore or a library. Maybe if I traveled I would enjoy a Kindle.
Twilight. That explains it perfectly. I have always enjoyed authors like King and Koontz, and my taste in movies is very similar. Generally speaking, I don’t like a bunch of mushy stuff mucking up a good thriller.
When you turn off the whispernet to the Kindle, the battery can last for several weeks or more. You can also buy a solar charger for it that costs about $25.
How are those fifty year old electronics holding up?
I’ve considered digital books, but I prefer paper.
Like you, I like to be surrounded by them.
My next house will have a dedicated library.
No phone, no PC, no TV or radio.
How do you build a reader?
Maybe not books, per se.. but the liberal establishment publishing media
That is the reason why I got my Kindle. I was simply running out of room for all the books. I have really enjoyed mine. I like the ability to search for a new book late in the evening when the book stores are closed. Also the cost of the book is 1/3 of a hardback, so for me that is 3 times as many books.
“My next house will have a dedicated library.
No phone, no PC, no TV or radio.”
Sorry to see you leave FreeRepublic.
Not really. I think there is provision for “sharing” books.
Its just clumsier...
You and I share the same pleasure, my friend, except my critter of choice is a Tonkinese cat. ;-)
I adore dead-tree books too. I love the smell of ink, the paper, the feel of the page edges as they curl...but my 40-something eyes aren't too appreciative these days.
I'm going to take a lot of flack for this, but I'm looking at an iPad. I don't think of it as a computer at all, but a utility device that will keep my calendar and hold my appointments, let me read a book, listen to music, watch an anime, type in notes or work on a writing project, all without hauling out my laptop or waiting for the desktop to power up. It'll help me in the kitchen with recipes (I want a magnetic docking station for the 'fridge!), make waits in doctor offices more pleasant, and I'll be able to expand the text size and put off bifocals a little longer.
Here's another point that reading this thread made me think of -- eReaders may help with allergies. Books are notorious dust collectors and bug-magnets unless you keep them locked away. Why have the books if you have to store them in airtight conditions? An iPad or eReader (my husband has the bigger Sony) would put a lot more reading material in my hands rather than paper on my shelves.
They honored my daughter's warranty no questions asked. Replaced the entire device.
Put all the course listings together, and printed them off. Presto, homemade reader. Cost was about 10 buck, and about an hour of time with a laser printer.
I still have quite a few hard cover books I have to finish up before I take the plunge. I’ve already purchased a couple of Kindle books to read at work on my desktop during lunch. What I’m even more grateful for is the rise in the number of audio books so now I can catch up on my reading even when I’m working out.
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