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<p><!-- Make sure you modify the 4Cast title in this section -->
<span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;
color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;
line-height: 110%;">OPLIN 4cast #380: The
decline of the ebook?</span><br>
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<span style="font-size: 11px; font-weight:
normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style:
italic; font-family: arial;">April 9th, 2014</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><img
alt="printing press"
src="cid:part4.02080208.05090306@oplin.org"
align="left" height="108" width="105">After we
wrote a <a
href="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/?p=4484">post</a>
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.
</p>
<div> </div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10733708/Waterstones-founder-e-book-revolution-will-soon-go-into-decline.html">Waterstones
founder: e-book revolution will soon go into
decline</a> (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.'"</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/60030-a-mixed-blessing.html">A
mixed blessing in slowing e-book sales</a>
(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."</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/mar/31/paper-vs-digital-reading-debate-ebooks-tim-waterstone">Paper
vs digital reading is an exhausted debate</a>
(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."</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://liquid-state.com/2013/12/22/declining-ebook-sales-mixed-blessing/">How
are declining ebook sales a 'mixed
blessing'?</a> (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."</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<p style="text-align: left; font-size: 20px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><small><strong><em>Hunger
fact:</em></strong></small><br>
</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;">The
various organizations that track ebook
publishing statistics almost all point to the
fact that strong sales of <em>The Hunger Games</em>
in 2012 skewed the numbers so much that 2013
looked bad in comparison.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
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