Ebook owners not only buy more books but read more

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Tue October 12th, 2010, 5:32 pm

I'm not trying to reignite the "pro vs. con" ebook reader controversy. I don't own one, but have been teetering. I found this article fascinating: http://www.informationweek.com/news/sto ... rtheiPhone

I had heard that ebook reader owners buy more books, but figured they did so because it was so easy. (And we don't don't how many of the books "bought" were actually free downloads.) This is the first poll I've seen that indicates ebook owners not only "buy" more books, but read more as well.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Tue October 12th, 2010, 5:40 pm

I'm always skeptical of polls -- regardless of the issue. It is too easy to get skewed results, whether intentionally or not. Is the population being polled a truly representative cross sample? Take the poll that someone posted on here about buying an ereader; a whole segment was left out and couldn't respond!

When I hear poll results on the news I always take them with a grain of salt. Who are they polling, for one thing? I have never one single time ever been asked to participate in a poll by any of the research firms that conduct such things.

So, I say when reading the results of a poll -- any poll on any topic -- leave room for a very wide margin of error!

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Tue October 12th, 2010, 10:54 pm

I would believe that eReader owners read more than the average member of society does, but not more than any other hardcore reader. Only people who read a lot are going to be that interested in getting an eReader.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Wed October 13th, 2010, 11:24 am

I wonder how many people did actually "read" their books.

And I've never been asked to take part in one of those polls either!

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Wed October 13th, 2010, 11:41 am

Briefly - yes ebook reader owners read more books. But that doesn't necessarily mean they read more because they own an ebook reader.
Rather, that because they read a lot, they were more likely to buy a reader in the first place.

N. Gemini Sasson · Post by **N. Gemini Sasson** » Wed October 13th, 2010, 1:41 pm

[quote=""sweetpotatoboy""]Briefly - yes ebook reader owners read more books. But that doesn't necessarily mean they read more because they own an ebook reader.
Rather, that because they read a lot, they were more likely to buy a reader in the first place.[/quote]

Agreed. It makes sense, budget-wise, for them to buy an e-reader and consume books that way. Also, if they read a lot in the first place, reading e-books saves them from figuring out what to do with all the books they're done with.

As for polls, yes, voluntary polls do tend to be skewed. Random sampling type of polls are generally more representative of the population at large, provided the sample is big enough to get a good cross section.

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Wed October 13th, 2010, 4:49 pm

Actually random sampling is not necessarily more representative of the population. It is better than self-selected polls, but there is no guarantee that the computer gives an accurate cross-section of any culture or demographic. Poll questions are also ridiculously easy to manipulate, and rarely give you enough options (I've been getting a lot of political poll calls and I'm getting annoyed with them and their two-party myopia)

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Thu October 14th, 2010, 4:49 pm

Guardian article today on ebooks:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... 28Books%29

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Thu October 14th, 2010, 8:34 pm

Very interesting article. And they make a good point about Amazon's monopolistic tendencies. Just a year or so ago, they tried to force all publishers who used POD and sold through Amazon to use their POD platform in spite of numerous complaints about the quality of the product vs. that from other platforms. When the publishers complained, they found their books had mysteriously lost their "buy" button. A lawsuit latter and Amazon backed down, but not before several publishers buckled. I was glad to see the Apple iPad come along and kick some butt, but they will be just as bad if they can.

I hated signing the agreement with Amazon for the "Look Inside the Book" feature that basically said they have non-exclusive rights to my book, in it's entirety, for whatever purpose they wished. I'm counting on their "honor" in using the files in the manner they said. That, and they'd have a major publisher/author revolution on their hands if they started expanding their usage beyond the LITB feature. But why couldn't they craft the agreement language to more closely fit the actual use? Why have us sign such a sweeping agreement? Because they can. Readers want the LITB feature and if a publisher or author denies it, they will lose sales.