The Book of Eli
Amazon.co.uk has revealed today that Kindle sales have finally eclipsed the sales of hardbacks and paperbacks.
It has only been two years since the Kindle was introduced and people are purchasing more of these than both paper and hardbacks put together. Amazon released the figures on Monday and it revealed that when 100 hardbacks and paperbacks are being sold 114 eBooks are being downloaded. It revealed that these numbers reflected the sales of paper and hardbacks that did not have a Kindle version and did not include the eBooks with no charge.
Amazon surprisingly went into business with Waterstones this year, one of the slowly diminishing book shops on the high street. It looks as though the Kindle has reinvented the readership too as customers are buying four times more than they did before they purchased a Kindle. Could these figures reflect he easiness of downloads, as opposed to the actual reader figures? We may buy hardbacks and paperbacks but leave them on the shelf for 6 months or never read them at all. Maybe the novelty of something can increase someone’s enthusiasm for something, like the gym, you go lots to start with and then it slowly slopes off to nothing. Is it that there is still such a buzz around it that everyone wants it to fit in with the times?
More than half a million Kindle books are at a reasonable price point of 3.99 or even less. Amazon did challenge that the increase in eBook sales was not simply down to a cheap price point, as many of the paper and hardbacks start at just a penny.
Fifty Shades of Grey is certainly to thank for this influx as it has sold 2 million copies since April.
Will we ditch our games consoles, TVs and cinema in favor of reading our Kindles in future? This may have positive implications for school children, as a more appealing version of a book has been produced for the younger demographics. Will this mean they will read more? Could this mean that the movie The Book of Eli will eventually have some truth in our modern day society?!
Female First Lucy Walton