E-Books VS. P-Book

The July 29, 2013 issue of The New Yorker has a nice piece on this topic. I think you might be able to see it on-line this wee. Some points in the article, which is on page 23 of the issue, are that a recent report from the Codex Group shows browsing in stores is still a far more common way of finding new books than either online search or social media.

Also, Independent bookstores are now thriving, thanks in large part to their close ties to both publishers and customers.

There is still the idea that books are  “technologically obsolete” and the book industry is heading down the path that the music industry took because between 2009 and 2011 e-books sales rose at triple-digit annual rates. However, last year, according to industry trade groups, e-book sales rose just forty-four percent. As the article points out, “This kind of deceleration in the growth rate isn’t what you’d expect if e-books were going to replace printed books anytime soon.”

In fact, last year hard-cover sales rose by a hundred million dollars.

The piece by James Surowiecki sums up: “The truth is that the book is an exceptionally good piece of technology–easy to read, portable, durable, and inexpensive.”

Read it and cheer!