Americans Who Read More Electronically Read More, Period
From Harris Polls:
As with just about every other aspect of our lives, the ways in which we can read books have undergone radical shifts over the past few years. Not long ago hardcover and paperback were the main options available to readers, but then e-readers hit the scene, followed by tablet computers. With the additional options of reading on your computer or your phone, these days it seems as though just about the only thing standing between Americans and a good read is setting aside the time. Americans seem to be embracing their broader options, as the majority (54%) currently read e-books, including two-thirds of Millennials (66%).
. . . .
When asked to consider any format – not just hardcovers and paperbacks, but electronic formats as well – a strong majority of Americans (84%) say they read at least one book in an average year, with over a third (36%) saying they read more than ten. On average, Americans report reading roughly 17 books per year. Looking at demographics, Baby Boomers and Matures (whose readerships average roughly 19 and 25 books per year, respectively) both read more in a typical year than Millennials (13). Women, meanwhile, (23) read twice as many books as men (11).
. . . .
Those who read either more or exclusively in the e-book format are more likely to read over 20 books in an average year (30%) than either those who read more/only in hard copy (18%) or those who read in both formats equally (21%). They also report a higher average readership per year than either hard copy hardliners or equal-opportunity readers (22.5 books vs. 16 and 15, respectively).
Looking at the number of books purchased in the past year, with a reported average of 14 books, those favoring e-books purchased roughly twice as many as those preferring hard copies, who purchased an average of less than seven.
Link to the rest at Harris Polls
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Could it be PassiveVoiceBlogged (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_effect)? The link is down for me, as is the entire Harris Interactive website.
That’s bizarre. Harris is a large organization that one would expect to competently operate a website.
This pretty well confirms what we all strongly suspected and/or read in other reports. It also partially explains the supposed drop in ereader take-up. The people who read the most were the earliest adapters of ereaders. The remainder don’t read a lot so they are slow in switching formats. That’s natural and expected.
I think those early adopters also generate new converts. When they upgrade their ereaders, they usually give the old ones away.
My mom (in her eighties) got my Kobo touch when I got a kindle and she uses it every day. She’s turned into an e-Vangelist, explaining to her friends how she no longer sneezes from paper dust, how she’s able to enlarge the font…
Good point. I have given at least a couple of Kindles and a couple of mini-Kobos as gifts. One of our beta readers is using a kobo that I leant her to beta read an upcoming book. She likes it better than her android phone, which she had used earlier.
I imagine those are fairly common experiences.
Yep, I figure it causes a lot of growth. Each new convert eventually gets a new reader and gives the old one away. The ereader acts like a virus.
I’m reluctant to opine before the TPV statistics experts have scrutinized numbers and methods. Obviously I’ve been coming here too long…
I don’t think I qualify as a statistics expert, Tina, but for the most part I’d say this is just one more data point showing what I would expect them to have found. I do think the section that essentially said “those who read more, read more” is kind of silly other than pointing out that format preferences had a bearing on that.
Are we counting books purchased?
Or just read?
From what I observe in the library, I suspect that there is an older generation who reads print only and practically never buys a book. But they carry bags full of books as they enter and leave the library. At a guess, they read between 10 and 20 books every month.
I.J. – sounds like my mother.
She’ll be 84 in June, doesn’t drive (typical of her generation), and doesn’t care about the tech revolution; having a cell phone is as techie as she gets.
Anyway, since she has to use buses to get around, she only takes out 1 or 2 books from the library every week or so, and yup, rarely ever goes out of her way to buy any. What for? She’s got the library and, doesn’t mind hopping on a bus to get there and back home.
Right on, Nancy’s Mom!
You can get a poll to say anything you want.
I buy approximately 75 books a year. I read approximately 4 books a week plus several magazines and comic books. The only ebooks I have read are the few that I can’t find in hard copy without spending way too much money. If something comes up that I wish to read that is only available electronically, I will borrow or buy it.
When we were growing up my sister and I could not have been more different. You couldn’t get that girl to pick up a book to save her soul and you couldn’t pry one out my hands. Her S.O. gave her a tablet for Christmas and for the first time in her life she’s reading. I’m so happy for her.
My mother is on a fixed income so she doesn’t buy books she uses the library. She lives in a small rural community and her library is just starting to catch on to ebooks. They don’t have many yet so there isn’t any reason for her to have an ereader. If I thought she’d use it I’d buy her one in a second.
The library in my area is used by everyone. I buy a lot of books but I also use the library quite a bit and I see more young families than I do older people. Tons and tons of small children’s books that might not translate well to a tablet.
these are all different people who use the books or ebooks they do for different reasons.
If you live in a different area where the library system has more ebooks, it might be worthwhile to get your sister a library card from your library. Most library systems don’t require actual residency, or indeed much of anything if you sign up online. The Internet can allow your sister to check out ebooks, etc. from across the country.