Ok, so Amazon.com has announced that for every 100 hard covers they’re selling 143 eBooks. Bully for them. Here’s my thoughts and questions:
- Amazon.com will still not release any actual numbers regarding books sold (of any type) or Kindles sold.
- Paperbacks still outsell hard covers and eBooks.
- So it sounds like people will buy whatever’s cheapest. When eBooks cost the same as a paperback and then outsell the paperback let’s talk.
- Ignoring the price issue, I there’s a convenience to instantly purchasing and then having (though not owning) the content of the book. A couple of clicks and you’ve got the book. No waiting for something to be shipped. But, when it’s that easy, what’s the level of impulse purchasing of eBooks that then actually read?
- Lastly, does the number of eBooks “sold” include the ones that are downloaded for free? I’ve got a few dozen Kindle books but I didn’t pay for a single one of them. I’ve just been downloading many of the free books they’ve offered. (Now ask me how many of them I’ve read.)
- Oh, and one more thought: They’re not “selling” any of those eBooks. They’re licensing them to you! Wouldn’t it be more honest if the press release read “Over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 143 Kindle book licenses.”?
