[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #380: The decline of the ebook?

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4cast #380: The decline of the ebook?
April 9th, 2014

printing pressAfter we wrote a post <http://www.oplin.org/4cast/?p=4484> 
about the woes of the e-reader industry a couple of weeks ago, we saw an 
article in the British press this past week (first link below) about the 
predicted decline of the ebook itself. Are ebooks in trouble, too? Could 
this be true? Is this just something that's happening in Britain? No, it 
turns out that this is kind of old news, based on sales figures from the 
end of last year. And as is the case with many predictions, this one is 
a point of debate.

  * Waterstones founder: e-book revolution will soon go into decline
    <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10733708/Waterstones-founder-e-book-revolution-will-soon-go-into-decline.html>
    (The Telegraph/Hannah Furness) "'I think you read and hear more
    garbage about the strength of the e-book revolution than anything
    else I've known,' Mr Waterstone [founder of the Waterstone's
    bookstore chain] told the audience in Oxford. 'The e-books have
    developed a share of the market, of course they have, but every
    indication - certainly from America - shows the share is already in
    decline. The indications are that it will do exactly the same in the
    UK.'"
  * A mixed blessing in slowing e-book sales
    <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/60030-a-mixed-blessing.html>
    (Publishers Weekly/Jim Milliot) "The slowdown, of course, didn't
    come as a surprise, for as HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray told PW,
    'Nothing grows by triple digits for too long.' The positive side of
    slowing e-book sales is that the decline of print books has slowed,
    prompting many of those interviewed to hope that the industry is
    entering a more stable and predictable period, one that will lead to
    a wide number of distribution channels to facilitate book sales
    regardless of format."
  * Paper vs digital reading is an exhausted debate
    <http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/mar/31/paper-vs-digital-reading-debate-ebooks-tim-waterstone>
    (The Guardian/Nick Harkaway) "Digital will continue to grow for a
    while at least, and continue to exist, because it is becoming part
    of the world we inhabit at a level below our notice, no more
    remarkable than roads or supermarkets. Ebooks are here to stay
    because digital is, and quite shortly we'll stop having this debate
    about paper vs ebooks because it will no longer make a lot of sense."
  * How are declining ebook sales a 'mixed blessing'?
    <http://liquid-state.com/2013/12/22/declining-ebook-sales-mixed-blessing/>
    (Liquid State/Dee Caffrey) "Just because one format is seeing a
    slight decline of sales (after the skyrocketing figures that ebooks
    have produced in the last 5 years), does not mean that the people no
    longer buying ebooks are now inexplicably turning to print books.
    That just doesn't make sense. Nor are new consumers suddenly opening
    ereaders or print books, because this industry is already a fairly
    mature one - chances are, people who weren't previously interested
    in books are not going to spontaneously flock to ebooks just because
    the format has changed. People who love books are most likely
    already in their format of choice, and no amount of new ereader
    technology will change that."

*/Hunger fact:/*

The various organizations that track ebook publishing statistics almost 
all point to the fact that strong sales of /The Hunger Games/ in 2012 
skewed the numbers so much that 2013 looked bad in comparison.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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