Comments on: Some numbers on popularity of ereaders http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/some-numbers-on-popularity-of-ereaders/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:55:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: HeavyG http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/some-numbers-on-popularity-of-ereaders/comment-page-1/#comment-1119274 HeavyG Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:17:33 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=26369#comment-1119274 Seriously...does anyone really expect that ereaders (of any stripe or form) will ever come anywhere close to the ubiquity of cell phones, ipods, digital cameras, etc.??? Most people don't read books or don't read books often enough to want to deal with a gizmo to read the one or two books they might read in a year. Seriously…does anyone really expect that ereaders (of any stripe or form) will ever come anywhere close to the ubiquity of cell phones, ipods, digital cameras, etc.???

Most people don’t read books or don’t read books often enough to want to deal with a gizmo to read the one or two books they might read in a year.

]]> By: Steve Jordan http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/some-numbers-on-popularity-of-ereaders/comment-page-1/#comment-1119137 Steve Jordan Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:30:30 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=26369#comment-1119137 It sometimes surprises me that the makers of other devices, like UMPCs, cellphones, laptops, etc, haven't stepped up and begun to advertise the ability of their own hardware to be e-book readers to capitalize on this growing market. Only the iPhone has done this to date, and that was specifically when Stanza was introduced (which immediately resulted in Amazon's buying Lexcycle, as I recall. Either that, or the ads followed the Lexcycle acquisition, which further proves my point). Much of these statistics are fairly empty, since most of the public hasn't really been introduced to their e-book possibilities. Many of those who say they "prefer" paper haven't even tried reading an e-book... how do they know what they prefer if they've never tried the alternative? Many others think you have to have a Kindle or Sony reader to read an e-book ("You mean, there are others?"). It's like asking the average New York city ice cream fan whether they prefer chocolate or poi flavor... So, instead of polls asking people if they prefer one thing over something they've never tried or even seen up-close, maybe more opportunities to see e-books in action, try hardware and do real-world evaluations are in order first. It sometimes surprises me that the makers of other devices, like UMPCs, cellphones, laptops, etc, haven’t stepped up and begun to advertise the ability of their own hardware to be e-book readers to capitalize on this growing market. Only the iPhone has done this to date, and that was specifically when Stanza was introduced (which immediately resulted in Amazon’s buying Lexcycle, as I recall. Either that, or the ads followed the Lexcycle acquisition, which further proves my point).

Much of these statistics are fairly empty, since most of the public hasn’t really been introduced to their e-book possibilities. Many of those who say they “prefer” paper haven’t even tried reading an e-book… how do they know what they prefer if they’ve never tried the alternative? Many others think you have to have a Kindle or Sony reader to read an e-book (“You mean, there are others?”). It’s like asking the average New York city ice cream fan whether they prefer chocolate or poi flavor…

So, instead of polls asking people if they prefer one thing over something they’ve never tried or even seen up-close, maybe more opportunities to see e-books in action, try hardware and do real-world evaluations are in order first.

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