Since the New Year there has been a steady increase of media coverage regarding eBooks. Two such stories that have received prominent media coverage are:
Amazon Kindle eBook Sales
A major story refers to sales of eBooks via the Amazon Kindle store. According to Amazon figures, eBook sales now exceed those of paperbacks on their US website; a further progression since eBook overtook hardback sales last year. The Kindle has been available as a device in the US for over 3 years; the first version of the device released on November 19th 2007. Not only did the initial model sell out incredibly quickly, but subsequent models have continued to sell in large numbers.
The release of the latest model has started the trend in the UK, with Christmas sales apparently being high. The take-up of eBooks and relevant devices in the UK is, unsurprisingly, a few years behind the US. Whereas people reading Kindles on the train or bus is extremely common in the US, so far I have only seen one person with a Kindle on my regular train commute; clearly the idea of e-readers while travelling has a way to go yet.
Naturally this news continues to keep publishers and booksellers busy, as technology doesn’t stop. At the Digital Book World conference in New York publishers were predicting parity between eBook and print sales by 2014.
Booker Judges to use Kindles
Also in the news, Booker prize judges will be given Kindle devices to help them work through the submissions for this year’s prize. It is important to note that judges will receive both physical and digital copies; giving them extra options, especially when travelling. The fact that it is the Kindle that is being used is yet more publicity for the Amazon behemoth, and another blow for rival e-reader devices on the market.
A short summary of both these stories can be found in the following article from the The Guardian
Facebook
Twitter
