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E-Books: “One in Ten Americans Use an eReader; One in Ten Likely To Get One in Next Six Months”
September 22, 2010 | 4:47 pm
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By Gary Price, Editor of InfoDocket.com
From Harris Interactive:
Right now, just one in ten Americans (8%) uses an electronic reader device of some kind, so any real changes may take a while to detect, but some small ones are noticeable now.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,775 adults surveyed online between August 9 and 16, 2010 by Harris Interactive.
A Few Other Headlines With Numbers and Charts in the Summary/News Release:
+ eReader users read and buy more books
On eReader Owners
+ 12% are likely to get an eReader in the next six months
+ 21% are not very likely to purchase an eReader
+ 59% are not at all likely to purchase an eReader
Numbers as also broken down by region of the U.S.
+ 53% of eReader owners say they read more now than they did 6 months ago vs. 18% of non-eReader users
+ 51% of non-users say they read the same as they did 6 months ago vs. 25% of eReader users
Ed. Note:
If you look at the third chart you can see the question that eReaders include dedicated eReaders (Kindle) along with the iPad and similar devices.
The summary/news release also includes several tables including:
+ Books Read In A Year (by generation and income)
+ Books Purchased In Past Year (by generation)
+ Use E-Reader (by region)
+ Likely To Get An E-Reader (by region and generation)
+ Change In Reading Habits
Source: Harris Interactive
Hat Tip and Thank You Very Much: Jill O.
Via Resource Shelf
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Comments:
Perhaps I am a bit ‘fuzzy’ on my percentages but isn’t one in ten actually 10%?
That aside, the statistics are interesting, but they don’t differentiate if these “eReaders” are part of a tablet or not. Are these Kindle-type devices being talked of, or do these numbers include iPads?
The numbers include the iPad as the questions asked specifically calls it out along with Nook and Kindle. Which explains how they get such a large number of “e-reader” owners and prospective buyers; around 25-30 million in each category.
As far as I’m concerned this muddies the waters on the reading habits stats since the iPad population includes eink owners and non-readers.
At a minimum they needed to break out iPad (and other multipurpose device) owners from those with single-function reader devices since at least some iPad owners bought them for their media or surfing functions rather than as readers.
I don’t believe this study — I suspect they have a sample bias here.
In the same study they mention that 40% of adult Americans read 11 or more books per year. I don’t believe this. On a government web site, you can find a statistic that states that about 14% of adults are functionally illiterate, and another 29% just have basic literacy. I can’t believe that 70% of the remainder read one book per month. That is certainly not my experience.
So, I wonder who they surveyed and how? Frankly, I can’t think of an audience that would hit the 40% figure. Even if this was an Internet-only survey, I just don’t believe that 40% of Internet users read a book a month.
… and one more thing, They conclude at the bottom of the study that getting an ereader makes you read more. That might be true, but I don’t think you can conclude that from their study.
An ereader costs from $100 to over $500. Most people who have one today paid over $200 for their ereader. With that kind of entry point, I suspect that you would see that ereader buyers are already heavier readers. Who would pay $150 or so if they only read one book per year? So, at least some part of the heavier reading habits is probably due to the fact that people who can buy/justify an ereader are already heavier readers. In order to make the conclusion that Harris claims, you would have to see the change in habits before and after the purchase of an ereader.
Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if the conclusion was correct. I have found it easier to discover, and acquire electronic books. However, I don’t think their study contains any proof of their contention.
Speaking personally I don’t believe that 30 million people in the USA use an eReader.
I also don’t believe that another 30 million will buy one in the next 6 months.
This is utter nonsense.
Given that, as Michael pointed out, 43% of Americans are barely literate, that leaves 57% to take up these eReaders. So, rather than penetration hitting 20% of the population (10% now and 10% in the next 6 months) the prediction is nearer 35%. Clearly wrong – almost certainly through (a) wishful thinking and (b) the fact that the questions were addressed to or answered by existing users of eReaders.