Amazon selling more Kindle books than print

Thanks to Mike Tyson on Facebook for bringing this to my attention.

It was bound to happen eventually. Amazon announced today that it’s now selling more Kindle e-books than both hardcover and paperback books combined. That’s a major shift for Amazon, which has been selling physical books for more than 15 years, but has only been offering e-books for less than four years. Amazon also made it clear that it wasn’t counting free Kindle book sales.


Now for the first time ever, the term “book store” can refer to a book retailer that sells more digital books than physical copies.


Driving the e-book charge was Amazon’s recently announced ad-supported Kindle, which retails for $114. Amazon said the ad-supported Kindle has “quickly become the bestselling member of the Kindle family” in its first five weeks on the market. Though, as usual, the company didn’t offer up any specific sales numbers.


Amazon said that since April 1, it has sold 105 Kindle e-books for every 100 print books. The strong e-book sales also led Amazon to see its fastest year-over-year growth for all book sales. The company also says it has sold more than three times as many Kindle books this year than in the same period in 2010. Amazon now has more than 950,000 Kindle titles available for sale.
Kindle book sales show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Now we need only count the days until Amazon’s next milestone: when digital books account for twice as many sales as physical books.


We recently reported that overall e-book sales in the US exploded this past February (tripling sales from last year) to surpass paper books.

Source


What do you guys think about this? I really hope this doesn't signal the decline of traditional paperbacks (although I don't think it will). I have no experience with electronic books such as the Kindle and I personally have no desire to get one. I can get like a dozen novels for the price of one Kindle, and I've never particularly liked reading off a screen. I just don't see the appeal really. Sure, you can carry a whole library on one nifty little e-book but I mean I'm only ever going to be reading one book at a time anyway and hence only carrying one around. I guess it's cool for people who like to have a collection of sources or non-fiction books to hand, but as a platform for reading novels from I'm not sure that I see its purpose when good old fashioned, cheaper paperbacks do the job just fine.

This is a few months old actually, Amazon announced this to its employees just after the new year. A little scarey if you are a rank and file book pusher like me, however it was bound to happen. Thankfully we have diversified into just about everything else as well (small appliances, toys, what have you). As for me I will not go Kindle, I like a book in my hands.

Say no to Kindles!

Seriously I don't get why anyone would think staring at a tiny computer screen is preferable to reading a book, especially when for example on holiday. The last thing I want when on holiday is to have to stare at a computer screen while the bright summer sun shines down upon me. And for that reason I'm sticking to the written word....

Originally Posted by cpdwane

Say no to Kindles!

Seriously I don't get why anyone would think staring at a tiny computer screen is preferable to reading a book, especially when for example on holiday. The last thing I want when on holiday is to have to stare at a computer screen while the bright summer sun shines down upon me. And for that reason I'm sticking to the written word....

Its not a computer screen, its digital ink. It's pretty much identical to reading off paper.

This thread is full of people that are so technophobic they don't even know what they are missing in the kindle. I've purchased and read more books since getting a kindle than before. Why? Because the books are cheaper (I paid $9 for a book that was just released THAT DAY in hardcover for $35. Most books run between $9 and $12 depending on publisher). They are delivered instantly. I can read before I buy. I don't have to worry about storage. I can literally have 1000's of books at my finger tips. The money I have saved on all the books I have purchased and read has already paid for my original kindle purchase.

Originally Posted by DisgruntledGoat

This thread is full of people that are so technophobic they don't even know what they are missing in the kindle.

Not a technophobe, but thanks for playing. Would technophobes be on a computer game fansite forum? Some people just prefer to read a physical book. Between my computer, cell phone, ipod, TV, dvd player, digital picture frames and Garmin, it is nice to hold some paper in my fingers.

If you've never seen a kindle before, e-ink looks nothing like a computer screen. It's exactly like paper and there is no glare, in fact reading it in direct sunlight is actually the best way to read it.

It wouldn't be any use for me to post a picture or video, since you'll be looking at a computer screen to see it, but just trust me that it's exactly like reading paper.

Not to mention that if you want to read your books in lets say 30 years it's best to stick to physical copies.

Yup, I love my kindle. It's just like reading paper, without the hassle of it actually being paper.

kindles are great, for the simple fact that you can cram about 3,000 books into one little device. and the e-ink screen is the greatest invention since anal lube, it looks just like regular paper.

kindle books are cheaper than hardcover/softcover books so thats probably a big reason why they sell more

What happens if your hard drive crashes?

Originally Posted by MathiasOfAthens

What happens if your hard drive crashes?

Its flash storage not a harddrive so wont "crash" but if you ever broke your kindle you simply re/download everything you bought since all book purchases are tied to your kindle account. Another plus for the kindle, if your house ever burns down you dont lose your library And kindles are NOT 500 dollars, you can buy one for just over 100 dollars also as pointed out above they pay for themselves quickly with cost of books vs print version.

Download them again, like Steam.

After you buy a new kindle for 500 dollars?

Originally Posted by MathiasOfAthens

After you buy a new kindle for 500 dollars?

If they still sell it in 10 years time.
There will be some new fancy gadget by then and quite a few old books will no longer be available on it.


This thing is a threat to the civilisation itself and I'm only half joking when I say that.

Originally Posted by MathiasOfAthens

After you buy a new kindle for 500 dollars?

First of all. 500 dollars? Exaggerating, doesn't improve your argument.

And when my kindle broke, I called Amazon and I had a new one 4 days later and all I had to do was send my old one to them.
Also, I live in Finland, and they got it to me in 4 days from the states. I was pleased.

And the books I like I still buy as actual books. And sometimes as a kindle aswell, if I really like them.
Just some books I don't care as much and just want to read 'em occasionally.

Originally Posted by Trax

If they still sell it in 10 years time.
There will be some new fancy gadget by then and quite a few old books will no longer be available on it.

In 10 years time I'll be using a Kindle 13, instead of my Kindle 3 and if my books aren't compatible with it, I'll just convert them to the appropriate file.

Originally Posted by MathiasOfAthens

What happens if your hard drive crashes?

Originally Posted by MathiasOfAthens

After you buy a new kindle for 500 dollars?

Kindles don't have hard drives, and they are $120-140.

I was quite skeptical when I first heard of the Kindle as well. But since my brother bought one and I saw how it performed, I was easily won over. Nothing at all like reading on a computer screen and pretty much the same as literally reading off paper. My house is small as well and storing books would be a huge pain in the butt, but since I bought my own Kindle I could have thousands of books at my fingertips if I wanted, without so much as any physical space taken up. Sure, it's somewhat worrying that if we put all our information into digital technology - what happens if it all fails? - but slight rational paranoia aside, this is the way of the future.

By the way, prices are right on the homepage of Amazon.

Originally Posted by the_mango55

Kindles don't have hard drives, and they are $120-140.

uh? how do you store the files?

Originally Posted by MathiasOfAthens

uh? how do you store the files?

It's .azw files I think

Originally Posted by MathiasOfAthens

uh? how do you store the files?

They have internal flash memory.

Plus any book you have purchased from Amazon can be downloaded to any of your devices, including Kindle hardware, computer, smartphone, or tablet. You don't have to worry about losing your books.