Whatisthee-bookAne-bookisabookinelectronicformat.Itisdownloadedtoacomputer,PC,Mac,laptop,PDA,tablet,smartphoneoranyotherkindofreadingdevice,andisreadonthescreen.Itcanhavenumberedpages,tableofcontents,picturesandgraphics,exactlylikeaprintedbook.
Thee-bookhassomuchedvantage,theparperbookshaveahardtime.Halfadecadeintothee-bookrevolution,though,theprognosisfortraditionalbooksissuddenlylookingbrighter.Hardcoverbooksaredisplayingsurprisingresiliency.Thegrowthine-booksalesisslowingmarkedly.Andpurchasesofe-readersareactuallyshrinking,asconsumersoptinsteadformultipurposetablets.Itmaybethate-books,ratherthanreplacingprintedbooks,willultimatelyservearolemorelikethatofaudiobooks—acomplementtotraditionalreading,notasubstitute.HowattachedareAmericanstooldfashionedbooksJustlookattheresultsofaPewResearchCentersurveyreleasedlastmonth.Thereportshowedthatthepercentageofadultswhohavereadane-bookrosemodestlyoverthepastyear,from16%to23%.Butitalsorevealedthatfully89%ofregularbookreaderssaidthattheyhadreadatleastoneprintedbookduringthepreceding12months.Only30%reportedreadingevenasinglee-bookinthepastyear.
Booksarenotgoinganywhere.Neitherispublishing.SinceGutenbergmadehisepiccontributiontothehumanrace,publishinghassecuredaplaceasoneofthelargestandmostprofitableindustriesinhistory.Inthattime,publishinghasadaptedtomajortechnologicalchanges,survivedeconomicmeltdowns,persistedthroughpoliticalcensorship,andmadeittotheothersideofcatastrophicpricewars.
It’sconveniencethatisdrawingpeopletoe-booksandthatiswhatwillkill