Do you remember when actual, physical books were dead, ebooks were the future of print, and ebook readers seemed like they might become a necessity for lovers of the printed word? Well, here's the thing about that... funny story... that turns out to have been not at all true. Not only are books not going anywhere, ebooks are actually in decline.
From CNN:
New data suggest that the reading public is ditching e-books and returning to the old fashioned printed word.
Sales of consumer e-books plunged 17% in the U.K. in 2016, according to the Publishers Association. Sales of physical books and journals went up by 7% over the same period, while children's books surged 16%.
The same trend is on display in the U.S., where e-book sales declined 18.7% over the first nine months of 2016, according to the Association of American Publishers. Paperback sales were up 7.5% over the same period, and hardback sales increased 4.1%.
"The print format is appealing to many and publishers are finding that some genres lend themselves more to print than others and are using them to drive sales of print books," said Phil Stokes, head of PwC's entertainment and media division in the U.K.It's been pretty clear for years now that physical books were going to survive the ebook onslaught, but the convenience of ebooks seemed like it should be enough to at least sustain the ebook ecosystem. Apparently that's not the case; ebooks now appear to have been something of a fad, lacking the staying power of the simple printed word.
"E-readers, which was once a promising category, saw its sales peak in 2011. Its success was short-lived, as it spiraled downwards within a year with the entry of tablets," Euromonitor said in a research note.
According to the Pew Research Center, 65% of Americans reported reading a printed book in the past year, compared to only 28% who read an e-book.As a lover of old-fashioned, printed books, and a hater of corporate hype, I have to say that I'm thrilled by this development on both fronts.
I own an ebook reader, but never use it; I prefer the experience of holding an actual book, turning its pages, losing myself in its text and its textures. Ebooks might be great for travelling, allowing you to bring several books with you at a fraction of the weight of a single printed work, but I do most of my reading at home, and in bed, where the last thing I want is another damn screen.
Also, books never need recharging, and touch interfaces generally kinda suck.