There was a news item in today’s the Globe and Mail’s Wall Street Journal business section as follows:
Fowler, G. and Baca, M. (2010) Growth of e-books bodes well for reading, Globe and Mail, Toronto, August 25.
The article cites research involving a survey (paid for by Sony) of 1,200 e-reader owners, covering iPad, Kindle and the Sony Reader
The article gives the following information:
- 40% of the e-book owners claimed they read more than they did with print books
- Nearly half of all ‘Americans’ (presumably citizens of the USA – there are other countries on the continent) read no books for pleasure
- Approximately 11 million ‘Americans’ will have an e-reader by the end of September (only 300 million to go).
- Owners of e-readers buy more books online once they have an e-reader (duh)
- People with e-readers read them in places they don’t read books (e.g. in a hot tub, with the e-reader encased in a plastic Zip-lock bag).
- E-book readers read e-books more slowly than printed books (iPads: 6.2% slower; Kindle: 10.7 per cent slower, n = 32)
I have been unable to track down a digital version of the text on this in either the Globe and Mail or Wall Street Journal’s web sites, but I did find a video
Early days yet, and we need much more – and more thorough research – but fun, nevertheless.
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
You can find the WSJ version of this article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575448093175758872.html.
The ABCs of E-Reading
New Devices Are Changing Habits. People Are Reading More, Even While in a Kayak
By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER And MARIE C. BACA
People who buy e-readers tend to spend more time than ever with their nose in a book, preliminary research shows.
A study of 1,200 e-reader owners by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. found that 40% said they now read more than they did with print books. Of those surveyed, 58% said they read about the same as before while 2% said they read less than before. And 55% of the respondents in the May study, paid for by e-reader maker Sony Corp., thought they’d use the device to read even more books in the future. The study looked at owners of three devices: Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle, Apple Inc.’s iPad and the Sony Reader.
While e-readers are still a niche product just beginning to spread beyond early adopters, these new reading experiences are a big departure from the direction U.S. reading habits have been heading. A 2007 study by the National Endowment for the Arts caused a furor when it reported Americans are spending less time reading books. About half of all Americans ages 18 to 24 read no books for pleasure, it found.
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