Over the last few years our trust has been shaken when it comes to buying e-books. Sometimes this stems from our favorite bookstore going out of business and all of our purchases disappearing or the high cost of investing in digital. Have we lost faith in e-books?
Good e-Reader Research conducted a survey and 664 people took part. The demographic comprised of casual readers and the very hardcore. We wanted to know if people indeed have lost faith in e-books and the reasons why.
Surprisingly 275 people, which represented 42% of the vote said that their faith continues abetted. 14.31% said their faith has been shook due to the clear lack of ownership and the same amount of people said e-books have increased in cost to such a point that they are no longer buying them. 10.24% said that they are now buying more print than digital, also citing the high cost.
The e-book industry has given us just cause to have our faith wavered. The Sony Reader Store closed up their online store in the US, UK, Europe and Australia last May. Hundreds of thousands of customers suddenly woke up one day that could not buy books anymore and had to deal with another company. Diesel e-Books, Txtr, Scholastic Storia and Blinkbox Books have all closed in the last calendar year, leaving customers in a lark.
I find it comforting that as much as the e-book industry has declined over the course of the last few years there is still a strong segment of users that continue to support the format and read on their e-readers and tablets.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.