1. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
The E-book
Revolution: Is It
Time to Join?
Even those who swore
allegiance to paper are making the
switch to the new, improved e-readers. ::
T
b y n i c k tat e
heresa russell couldn’t
imagine why anyone would
buy an e-book reader. An
avid book lover, she had a
hard time seeing herself curling up
with a piece of circuitry instead of a
good old hardcover or paperback.
Then she tried a Kindle. “I knew a
lot of people who had one, and they
were just ecstatic about it,” recalls
the 68-year-old South Florida real
estate agent. “But I just didn’t get it. I
remember thinking, What’s so great fiction surpassed those of hardcover the screen quality is better, it’s easier
about it? Then I got my Kindle, and books and paperbacks for the first to turn pages, and they’ve also gotten
it was just so easy to read. It’s just time last year. Cutthroat competition thinner and lighter. They’ve also
great.” Now Russell counts herself among the makers of e-book readers become so inexpensive because of
among the e-book faithful. She even has driven down costs and boosted strong competition between the major
recently upgraded to a top-of-line the quality of the ever-expanding booksellers to get devices they can sell
Nook Tablet. “I love that you can lines of products. And a slate of their books on.”
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options, apps,
Print book sales and formats PAPER TO DIGITAL
dropped to $11.1 are also being About 1 out of every 5 American
developed adults says e-books are the way to
billion in 2011 from to bridge go, according to the Pew Research
$12.1 billion in 2010. e-books to Center. That’s about twice as many
devices other as in 2011. E-book readers also report
adjust the size of the type, and the than readers, including iPads, tablets, reading more books than those who
lighting,” she says. “And whenever laptops, and smartphones. don’t: “The average reader of e-books
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there’s a new book I want to read, I “It’s definitely here to stay,” says says she has read 24 books in the
just press the button, and it’s right Paul Reynolds, electronics editor past 12 months, compared with an
there on my Nook.” for Consumer Reports magazine, of average of 15 books by a non-e-book
Russell has plenty of company the trend. “The rise of e-books and consumer,” the Pew report found.
these days. Growing numbers e-book readers will continue. The The trend has paralleled the digital
of readers are joining the e-book [manufacturers] have made these revolutions that have transformed
revolution. E-book sales for adult devices better and better every year — music, newspapers, and magazines
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2. reported a 45 percent developed e-book apps for tablets and
increase in Nook sales and computers. Google is debuting its
more than a doubling in Nexus 7 tablet this year that is being
sales of e-books over 2011. hailed as a key player in the market.
Company CEO William The e-book appeal is obvious:
Lynch says the bookseller Nearly all are lightweight and small
plans to build on its enough to toss into a purse, or even a
e-revenue gains in the year large pocket. Most cost under $300,
ahead, including several with some as low as $100. They can
new joint ventures. hold hundreds of titles, downloaded
“We grew our business with the click of a button from online
in 2012 while continuing stores. Type size is adjustable, which
to make the necessary is a boon for older eyes. Many models
investments for the future are backlit to allow for reading in
of the business,” he says. dim light. Some even offer the option
“In digital, our Nook content sales of having text read out loud like a
continued to explode with 119 percent book on tape, which appeals to some
year-on-year growth.” readers with long commutes.
HISTORY OF E-READERS AUTHORS GIVE IN
Despite their new popularity, Some big-time authors had been
e-readers have been around for a long vehemently opposed to allowing
time. Michael Hart has been widely electronic versions of their work.
credited with creating the first e-book Thomas Pynchon, J.K. Rowling,
when he typed the Declaration of and Ray Bradbury are examples.
Independence into a computer on Bradbury, author of the classic
July 4, 1971, and Fahrenheit 451 —
posted a notice which centers on a
to the users of future society that
over the past two decades. And Arpanet — the burns books — bitterly
while there have been some major precursor to the compared e-books to the
casualties — Borders Group Inc. Internet — that incineration of literature.
went the way of the 8-track tape last the text could be But shortly before his
year — the e-book movement has downloaded. ROWLING WITH THE TIDE Author death earlier this year, he
J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame now
cheered publishers who believe it is The first relented and allowed the
offers the popular Potter on e-books.
reinvigorating the industry. commercially digital sale of Fahrenheit
Case in point: Publishers’ net available e-book readers debuted 451. Rowling and Pynchon have also
revenue from e-books sales more than in 1998, with the development of changed their minds.
doubled last year, hitting $2.07 billion, the Rocket eBook and the SoftBook Will e-books eventually replace
compared to $869 million in 2010, Reader, neither of which gained a print books? It’s too early to say. But
according to the annual BookStats wide following. Now there are dozens the latest Pew survey suggests the
survey. The survey indicates print of different models. answer is no, noting that nearly 9 in
book sales dropped to $11.1 billion in Amazon’s Kindle series and 10 e-book readers also still read books
2011 from $12.1 billion in 2010. It also Barnes & Noble’s Nook readers made of paper. Theresa Russell says:
BOOKS/ISTOCKPHOTO / ROWLING/AP IMAGES
found that while brick-and-mortar dominate the market (industry “There will always be people who will
stores are still the dominant sales reports show Kindles account for 60 read [print] books and won’t consider
channel for books, online retailing is percent of market share; Nooks have anything else. I was one of them.
rising, increasing to $5.04 billion in 25 percent). But other electronics But I like the Nook. It works for me.
2011 from $3.72 billion in 2010. manufacturers, including Sony And now I don’t have piles of books
This year, Barnes & Noble Inc. — and Kobo, have developed their around the house, taking up space
the world’s largest bookseller with own brands, too. Apple and other and collecting dust.”
691 bookstores in 50 states — also electronics companies have also (Continued on page 62)
N OV E M B E R 2012 | N E W S M A X M A X L I F E 61

3. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
BUYER’S GUIDE
TO GETTING
STARTED
I f you’ve been thinking about
taking the plunge and buying
an e-book reader, this guide will
help sort out what’s available.
Dedicated readers:
Amazon’s Kindle series and
Barnes & Nobles’ Nook line are
the most popular dedicated The right reader:
e-readers ­ those primarily
— A recent Consumer
made for reading digitized Reports comparison
versions of books. But there of 23 e-readers
are many others, including recommended the Nook,
devices from Sony, PanDigital, Kindle, Kobo, and Sony
and Kobo. products as among the
best and most affordable.
Buying e-books: Among Consumer
BARNES & NOBLE
New e-books can be purchased Reports’ best choices: Nook Simple Touch BARNES & NOBLE
and downloaded from online ($100 – $140) Nook Color ($170)
stores or other websites, which
typically takes less than a
minute. Most cost considerably
less than hardcovers and are
generally priced around the
same as paperbacks. However,
many books, especially classics
that are no longer copyright
protected, are available
free or at low cost through
libraries and networks like the
Gutenberg Project and Google
Books.
AMAZON AMAZON AMAZON
Other devices: Kindle DX ($380) Kindle ($70) Kindle Keyboard 3G ($170)
You can also download e-book
applications for reading on
tablets, smartphones, laptops,
PCs, and Mac computers. Some
models, such as Apple’s iPad,
BLUE WAVE BACKGROUND, DEVICES/ISTOCKPHOTO
have their own e-book apps.
COUPLE/OJO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
SONY KOBO KOBO
PRS-T1 Wi-Fi ($130) Vox ($180) Touch ($100)
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