Amazon claims a first as eBooks outsell paperbacks

Really sold?

Almost all the eBooks I downloaded to my Kindle apps on various devices are free eBooks. So what I would like to know is what percentage of eBooks downloaded are paid for? However, it is true that I have more or less decided to stop buying paper versions in favour of digital ones. Cheaper, more portable and arguably, more eco-friendly.

By mnj_lim on 28 Jan 2011

Sold

According to Amazon, the figures don't include free books, only ones that customers have paid for.

By SMitchell on 28 Jan 2011

I have paper/hardback versions of books over 22 years old.

How likely is it an eBook bought today will still be readable in 22 years? Pretty slim I suspect.

So for unimportant books I plan to never read again eBooks are definately better but for keepers I'd prefer a paper copy

By cyberindie on 28 Jan 2011

22 years

I don't know about 22 years but I have eBooks in the .mobi format that I bought 8-9 years ago to read on a SonyEricsson P800i. I've probably changed devices 5 or 6 times since then and have changed mobile OS twice but can still happily read those eBooks on my current Android device and they would work on a Kindle (if I had one).

MP3 players have already been around well over a decade and MP3s still work. CDs are nearly 30 years old. Digital formats seem to hang around longer than most people give them credit. The public don't actually like change all that much.

By Bassey1976 on 28 Jan 2011

I got a Kindle for Christmas and it is great. And it is definitely very convenient to have lots of books in one shell.

BUT, there is a big downside: I can't lend my books to my brother (without giving him the Kindle). Whereas if I buy a paperback I can give it to him to read and read something else in the meantime.

So I will not be totally switching to digital; I'll be a mix of both.

By longn on 28 Jan 2011

Re: lending

That is only a temporary problem. Amazon have already announced a lending system for the US Kindle. You will be able to lend any Kindle book to another Kindle account for two weeks. The book will appear in the other account and they will be able to use it as if it were theirs. After two weeks it will remove itself from their account and appear back in yours. You may, of course, choose to lend it for another two weeks if they haven't finished reading it yet.

I'm not sure when this will launch in the UK. See here for details;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.htm
l?nodeId=200549320

By Bassey1976 on 28 Jan 2011

Re: lending

@Bassey1976

Amazon says "can be loaned ONCE for a period of 14 days" (my emphasis), that could leave things very tight if someone wants to borrow a handful of books for a holiday. They could easily run out of time to finish them.

Until they sort out this DRM problem I won't buy one. Don't want to buy two copies of a book if my wife and I both want to read a book

By PeteMelbourne on 28 Jan 2011

@PeteMelbourne

If it is just you and your wife register two kindles to one account.

By Shuflie on 28 Jan 2011

Is it cheaper than paper?

On the radio Friday morning (28 Jan) it was stated that some ebooks are more expensive than their paper equivalents! Probably due to VAT I suppose, since the materials is negligible. The price of progress....

By BornOnTheCusp on 28 Jan 2011

@PeteMelbourne

How is that different from a physical paper book? You own own one license so, of course, you can only loan it out the once during that 14 days. However, once that 14-days is up you can loan it out again, and again, and... You get the idea.

By Bassey1976 on 31 Jan 2011