07-21-2013, 11:59 AM | #1 | |
Fully Converged
Posts: 18,163
Karma: 14021202
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Switzerland
Device: Too many to count here.
|
Poll: 3 out of 4 Americans prefer paper books
So it's not just the British but also the majority of Americans who prefer paper books over e-books. At least if you're inclined to believe the poll done by Rasmussen Reports.
Quote:
[via Slashdot] Last edited by Alexander Turcic; 07-21-2013 at 12:02 PM. |
|
07-21-2013, 12:43 PM | #2 |
I'm Super Kindle-icious
Posts: 6,734
Karma: 2434103
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia
Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis
|
Alex, you seem to be posting a lot of articles about paper books. Is there something you want to tell us?
|
Advert | |
|
07-21-2013, 12:58 PM | #3 |
Fanatic
Posts: 532
Karma: 3293888
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Nook Simple Touch
|
the design of the survey is questionably for reaching this conclusion. someone that has not experienced an ebook would be unlikely to prefer it; market saturation therefore influences the poll. maybe they accounted for that but without the crosstabs, one can't know. The vast majority of time I prefer e. But sometimes dead trees comfort me; i'm dark that way.
|
07-21-2013, 01:25 PM | #4 | |
Grand Master of Flowers
Posts: 2,201
Karma: 8389072
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Naptown
Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)
|
Quote:
The numbers aren't surprising, really; paper books still outsell e-books by a substantial margin. Although it would be interesting if the poll included how many and what kind of books the person read; I suspect the numbers who prefer e-books are higher in people who mostly fiction and who read 10+ books per year. |
|
07-21-2013, 01:30 PM | #5 |
Fanatic
Posts: 532
Karma: 3293888
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Nook Simple Touch
|
Note that I did not say that my points invalidated the poll, only that the stated conclusion was questionable given the questions; the crosstabs may tell a more complete story, but alas they are unavailable. The stated conclusion implies an experience that may or may not exist. Which is to say, if I tell you I prefer this over that, the implication is that I have experienced both this and that.
Last edited by Rob Lister; 07-21-2013 at 01:34 PM. |
Advert | |
|
07-21-2013, 01:53 PM | #6 | |
Groupie
Posts: 199
Karma: 1071756
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Nova Scotia
Device: Kobo Aura, Nexus 5x
|
Quote:
With a poll structured like that, I am actually surprised that 25% prefer e-books. No doubt some publisher is going to take that as proof that the e-market is a wasted investment... |
|
07-21-2013, 01:56 PM | #7 |
Groupie
Posts: 199
Karma: 1071756
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Nova Scotia
Device: Kobo Aura, Nexus 5x
|
Actually, I'm not sure that first is true. I've bought all my reference books in electronic formats for over ten years, whereas I only got hooked on an e-reader last year.
|
07-21-2013, 02:01 PM | #8 |
Eudaimonia
Posts: 898
Karma: 9164418
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Device: Sony PRS T2, Sony PRS T3, Sony DPT-RP1
|
I am not surprised. ebooks are more practical, but not necessarily better. I love the formatting and page setup of a paper book. ebooks still don't get close to that.
|
07-21-2013, 02:02 PM | #9 |
Fanatic
Posts: 532
Karma: 3293888
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Nook Simple Touch
|
I'm kind of with Andrew here. All of my reference material comes from the internet and is viewed via computer, but I'll be damned if I'll try to use an e-reader for that kind of task. Damned if I'll use paper anymore either, while we're gedunkin'
|
07-21-2013, 02:11 PM | #10 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,583
Karma: 193191846
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
Quote:
|
|
07-21-2013, 02:14 PM | #11 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,732
Karma: 128354696
Join Date: May 2009
Location: 26 kly from Sgr A*
Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000
|
Quote:
(shrug) For one thing, those numbers (if you believe them) are actually showing the strength of the ebook market. What they are claiming is that 75% of the total population, prefers paper. Fine. That includes the portion of the population that doesn't *buy* books at all and the portion that only buys one book a year. Together, that makes up well over half the population. The poll is actually telling that, of the people *buying* more than one book a year, at least a third strongly prefers ebooks and another 20% is open to the tech. There is a difference between basing the "ebook approval rating" on the total population and basing it on likely book buyers. If you are looking to make investment grade estimates of ebook market potential, you want your numbers based on likely buyers. Now, if you're just looking to convince yourself ebooks are a fad then including non-participants will make you feel better... for now. Personally, I would put more stake on the reports from the BPHs that 20-25% of their sales, in dollars, comes from ebooks. Because that is people voting their wallets, not their mouth. (And since average ebook prices are lower than print, 25% is the just lower bound of ebook market penetration.) Last edited by fjtorres; 07-21-2013 at 02:17 PM. |
|
07-21-2013, 02:28 PM | #12 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,014
Karma: 5595784
Join Date: May 2012
Device: Electronic Paper
|
Yes same with me right now. But you need to understand that you're a very small minority with this approach. Digital reading is not the future, it's not even avant-garde. It's something most people don't care about, it's a cheap and convenient way to consume text files or to build up a virtual library. That's the reason why I like it just as I like some other things.
|
07-21-2013, 02:35 PM | #13 | |
Fanatic
Posts: 532
Karma: 3293888
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Virginia
Device: Nook Simple Touch
|
Quote:
If you have some supporting evidence or logic, I'll consider it. |
|
07-21-2013, 02:39 PM | #14 | |
languorous autodidact ✦
Posts: 4,235
Karma: 44637926
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: smiling with the rising sun
Device: onyx boox poke 2 colour, kindle voyage
|
I agree that market saturation factors into the results. I also wonder if the poll being conducted by telephone skews the results toward more traditional answers, even though they do claim a 95% level of confidence in the results. I wonder if older (and less likely to like new technology) people would be the more likely type of person to participate in a survey like this. I also wonder what results a survey conducted through the internet or in-person on the street would bring.
Also, the article leaves many things unclear when you compare it to the questions asked. For the final numbers, did they include the preferences of everyone who answered the survey regardless of how many books they said they read on question 1 (even if they hadn't read a book in the past year)? Quote:
|
|
07-21-2013, 03:40 PM | #15 |
Fully Converged
Posts: 18,163
Karma: 14021202
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Switzerland
Device: Too many to count here.
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
After buying my used KK, I realized how much I prefer paper. Conversion suggestions? | FauxTaimer | Amazon Kindle | 12 | 11-18-2011 08:34 AM |
Which of these books do you prefer | Enkidu of Abydos | General Discussions | 54 | 03-29-2011 01:18 PM |
College undergraduates still prefer p-books over e-books, study says | TadW | News | 8 | 06-08-2008 07:26 AM |
Do you prefer the Reader's serif or its sans serif font? (poll) | Alexander Turcic | Sony Reader | 9 | 11-25-2006 12:15 PM |