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0 pointsgnicholas7y ago0 comments

My reading-related startup is in the middle of conducting a poll on ebook usage.

So far, the data is showing that most people still prefer reading on paper versus on screen, by a decent margin (only 14% prefer screen). However, people still read more ebooks than paper books, likely due to the convenience factor. This can be squared with the NPD data because library ebooks are included in our poll, not just purchased ebooks.

I've been surprised at what small percentage of people use a monochrome Kindle (less than 25%), and the lack of a dominant platform (Amazon — 35%, OverDrive — 19%, Apple — 11%, Nook — 8%, Other — 27%). I guess it's good for consumers that there isn't one big leader here.

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LeftTurnSignal7y ago

Doubt you would have this data but in case you do...

I wonder what the numbers are for people who read books to completion on ebook or paper formats. Or how far into the different formats people choose to read.

I know that most of the time when I read any ebooks, I end up never finishing the book. When it's paper, I usually finish the book.

I think it's mainly because with a paper book it's harder to get distracted than when I'm looking at ebooks. If it's a topic I'm studying, or need / really want to know then I'll get the paper version.

gnicholasOP7y ago

I had the exact same thought. I might add this question in, or add it to a later survey (we're doing a bunch of surveys on paper versus screen for ebooks, news, PDFs, etc.).

I have the same behavior pattern you mentioned, though it's hard to know whether this is strictly a bad thing. If word-search-ability means I can get all the relevant stuff out of a book, then perhaps that's more efficient than reading the whole thing.

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