The rising popularity with ebooks in its many forms is kind of astounding! Amazon has just reported a few weeks ago that eBooks are outselling tangible books and retail giant Barnes and Noble is not meeting the same fate of rival Borders, due to the success of their ebook library and Nook e-Readers. A new study has been been conducted by iModerate Research Technologies and Brock Associates have determined that users that have multifunction devices; such as Blackberry, iPad, Android tablets and e-readers such as the Nook Color and Pandigital Novel have increased reading by 65% and 46% are actually buying real books.
The study found and presented at the Digital World Book Conference 2011 in New York has determined the top three reasons why Tablet and Smart Phone users prefer reading on their device. They mention the overall convenience factor of reading a book digitally to be at 80%. They also presented that over 61% of customers feel purchasing ebooks is easier then buying the real thing. One of the most intriguing factors was how people do their reading and in what environment. Traveling (72%), waiting for an appointment (72%) and for leisure and relaxation (70%) topped up the most popular methods.
“I think we can expect to see growth in ebook consumption in the coming year because consumers suggest that reading books on a multi-function device is such a convenience to them,” says Laurie Brock, President of Brock Associates. “As long as they have their device with them 24/7, they are going to read on it – especially if the price for an ebook remains reasonable.”
Not only did the recent poll determine statistical ananysis on how often people are reading and in what circumstances, they also had users offer their own experiences.
Some of the circumstances that contributed people to increase their reading habits were mainly evident to the fact that people often roll around carrying these devices in their pocket, in their car or in a bag/purse. They tended to read more during random “dead” pockets of time, such as waiting for a doctors appointment or chaperoning their kids on the playground.
One particular female whom was polled at this to say “When we’re going somewhere in the car and my husband is driving, I’ll read some. If my kid is playing on the playground or something, I’ll sit and read while she’s playing. It’s just convenient to pull out if I have a few minutes that I’m not doing anything.”
Another reason why people are reading more on their electronic devices was due to the convenience factor. The poll showed that its easier to buy, store and organizing their online book collections. Other issues cited the ability to buy more and carry more and being able to buy books on demand from various other stores.
The last huge factor that has been stimulating more people to read was the editing factor found in the iPad and many e-readers that do more then just reading. It allows people to highlight, adjust text size, bookmark pages without ruining the book.
via Press Release
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.
