Comments on: Book buying habits: Britain vs US http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/book-buying-habits-britain-vs-us/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:09:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Felix Torres http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/book-buying-habits-britain-vs-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1146865 Felix Torres Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:00:45 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=30410#comment-1146865 Indeed, book reading *may* correlate to book purchasing but not in any simple/direct fashion. Not in the US with its broad, varied, and strong tradition of local library systems. So any survey that aspired to any true insight into culture would have to slice-n-dice the data by region and normalize for quality of library system and the activity at the libraries. Indeed, book reading *may* correlate to book purchasing but not in any simple/direct fashion. Not in the US with its broad, varied, and strong tradition of local library systems.
So any survey that aspired to any true insight into culture would have to slice-n-dice the data by region and normalize for quality of library system and the activity at the libraries.

]]> By: Bill McHale http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/book-buying-habits-britain-vs-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1146864 Bill McHale Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:50:51 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=30410#comment-1146864 I think this study, coupled with some of the statements of people who believe that ebooks must be "enhanced" suggests that simple reading is a pastime that is increasingly deprecated in our consumer culture. Of course it is a shame that the published piece doesn't actually discuss what, if any, genres are more popular in Britain nor does it seem to document the actual reading of books. Its unfortunate but true that many books that are purchased every year are never read; likewise many readers read many more books every year than they purchase. So ultimately, this article leaves a lot of questions about the future of reading unanswered. -- Bill I think this study, coupled with some of the statements of people who believe that ebooks must be “enhanced” suggests that simple reading is a pastime that is increasingly deprecated in our consumer culture.

Of course it is a shame that the published piece doesn’t actually discuss what, if any, genres are more popular in Britain nor does it seem to document the actual reading of books. Its unfortunate but true that many books that are purchased every year are never read; likewise many readers read many more books every year than they purchase. So ultimately, this article leaves a lot of questions about the future of reading unanswered.

–
Bill

]]> By: Steve Jordan http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/book-buying-habits-britain-vs-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1146862 Steve Jordan Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:53:02 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=30410#comment-1146862 Without seeing the report directly, one has to wonder whether it makes a thorough assessment of those who buy online, and those who buy some or all of their books from independent online sources. I'd point out that those buyers are likely to be younger, as well. Without seeing the report directly, one has to wonder whether it makes a thorough assessment of those who buy online, and those who buy some or all of their books from independent online sources. I’d point out that those buyers are likely to be younger, as well.

]]> By: le craic http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/book-buying-habits-britain-vs-us/comment-page-1/#comment-1146861 le craic Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:55:58 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/?p=30410#comment-1146861 But if they'd quoted the other way, would that not have been female-centric? And why does it matter what way the statistics are quoted - I'm actually surprised at the high rate of male readership of fiction in the UK. I thought it would have been a lot less. But if they’d quoted the other way, would that not have been female-centric? And why does it matter what way the statistics are quoted – I’m actually surprised at the high rate of male readership of fiction in the UK. I thought it would have been a lot less.

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