The New York Times is reporting that sales of Amazon ebooks have surpassed hardcover sales, and everyone is hearing the death knell of print. Amazon claims to have sold 180 electronic books for its Kindle device for every 100 hardcover edition. Reading the Kindle's cryptic policy guide and recalling the great Orwellian recall of 2010, one might consider the word "rented" to describe the sales transaction with Amazon.
The article also says that hardcover sales are up 22% overall (source: American Publishers Association), but no one has bothered to notice that.
It's good news then all around then. Book sales are up. Hardcover sales at that.
Personally, I don't think ebooks will entirely replace print. Perhaps newspapers will no longer be paper. Heck, most of them are no longer news. If anything, ebooks and print will exist side by side. Print on demand devices will allow readers to purchase bound books. Small publishers will continue to print their books. I think the print book could become an even more splendid thing with limited runs and meticulously designed and bound editions.
I'd like to see a sales model wherein the electronic book can be purchased with the print edition. Why not let the consumer decide which format is best for the situation?
No comments:
Post a Comment