Recently at Good e-Reader we conducted a poll on where our website visitors voted on their favorite methods of reading books. Over 216 people voted in the two weeks we have been running the poll.
95 people or 48% of the vote, mentioned that they love reading books on their e-readers. It seems e-readers led the pack by a significant margin. Last month we did a poll on what brand e-reader do you own and the top 3 were Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Kobo.
61 people with 28% of the vote proclaimed that they just love reading good old hardcover and paperback books. Sometimes nothing beats the smell of a new book and to hear the crack of the bindings as you open it up for the first time.
Coming in at number 3 was Tablet PC’s with 38 selections and 18% of the total vote. Tablet PC’s have been steadily on the rise since last year Apple released the iPad. Since that time they control over 95% of the tablet computer market. This year sees strong competition from new entrants such as Motorola, HTC, RIM, and Samsung. Many people speculate that Apple will continue to dominate the tablet market until at least 2015.
Finally we round off the poll by Smart Phones with 6 votes and 3% of the total. Laptops with 3 votes with %1 of the total vote and finally PC with 2 votes.
It is no surprise that many visitors and members of goodereader.com prefer e-readers over books, given the focus of the website. What is a surprise is the feeling of instant success that comes with e-readers. The exponential rise in e-readers’ popularity over the last two years can be primarily attributed to the price of eBooks vs their non-digital counterparts. A new hardcover book will retail for around $35 or more, while the eBook sells for $10.00. It seems reading aficionados are going with the electronic book by a wide margin. Also, in second place we had physical books. I know as many eBooks as I purchase on my various devices, nothing beats spending an hour in my favorite bookstore. Often I find myself buying as many real books as e-books. Mainly because it’s too easy to find the new releases at a small display stand and bask in the environment. I love bookstores: the atmosphere, all of the content, and meeting new and interesting people. Although sometimes the eBook is a better investment price wise, real books have a subjective tangible aesthetic about them that makes them quite alluring.
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.
