Since Jenn Northington's last "Nitty Gritty" survey of e-reading and e-book buying habits, the industry has seen Kobo partner with indie booksellers, the settlement of the Justice Department's e-book agency model lawsuit and the release of an increasingly large array of more powerful tablets and e-readers.
This year's survey, conducted in January via Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter, asked readers seven questions:
- Where do you get your e-books?
- What device or devices do you use to read your e-books?
- What dedicated e-reader or e-readers do you own?
- What is your favorite thing about e-books and e-reading?
- What is your least favorite thing about e-books and e-reading?
- In your own words, what is DRM?
- Do you know what bundling is, and if so, do you want it?
Numbers for Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble's Nook Book Store and Apple's iBooks service remained largely the same since last year, although iBooks has shown a small drop. The number of readers using Overdrive and library services has risen steadily since 2011, as has the number of those who resort to piracy. The relative cost of e-books, and Digital Rights Management strategies perceived as punitive and stringent, may be influencing factors for both. This year, e-books purchased from Google Play and e-books purchased from Google's indie partnership were combined into a single category, and show a marked decline since their peak in April 2011. Kobo, meanwhile, has seen a major jump in the last year, which coincides with the beginning of its partnership with the American Booksellers Association.
Dedicated e-readers remained the most commonly used devices. iPads have continued to rise, perhaps boosted in part by the release of the iPad mini, which is comparable in size to standard e-readers. The growth of smartphones has continued, and remained stronger than both the iPad and computer. Phablets--phones that bridge the gap in size between conventional smartphones and small tablets--may contribute to this surprisingly strong growth. Computers saw a marginal increase since last year, but have overall remained fairly stationary. Although the lowest of the four categories, it continues to be surprising that many responders read e-books on computers at all.
Although the Kindle remains the most common e-reader, it has dropped as the market continues to diversify. The Nook, meanwhile, has risen steadily since the first survey, despite industry reports of declining sales during 2012. After a dramatic drop from 2011 to 2012, the Sony Reader stabilized. The "other" category (which was weeded of answers that were not technically dedicated e-readers) has risen steadily; Kobo now accounts for 8% of that category, up from 6% the year before.
Northington once again wanted to know readers' favorite, and least favorite, things about e-reading. Readers' favorite things about e-reading were:
- Portability, according to 447 out of 756 responses
- Immediacy of digital formats, with 133 responses
- The "wonders of technology" (backlit text, adjustable font sizes, searchable text, etc.), with 71 responses
- Convenience, 51 answers.
Rounding out the list of was ease of access to otherwise hard-to-find books (19 answers); the relatively low price of e-books compared to print editions (16); the privacy of others not being able to see what you're reading (7); ease of discovering new books (5); and the relatively low environmental impact of e-books (2).
Readers' least favorite things about e-reading were:
- The "perils of technology" (eye strain from looking at a screen for extended periods of time, having to charge batteries frequently, etc.), with 148 responses
- The lack of a physical book, 133 answers
- Formatting issues, such as poor page layout and bland design, 104 answers
- Cumbersome functionality, 89 responses
Following those answers were DRM (57 answers); inability to share or lend e-books (46); region restrictions and other access issues (32); the increasing price of e-books (31); an inability to display e-books in a physical space (28); harder to concentrate while reading digitally (12); the guilt of having to buy from Amazon and other large retailers instead of indies (9); no book covers (8); and the difficulty of organizing files and folders (7). Still, 19 responders said that there was nothing that they did not enjoy about e-reading.
Last, Northington asked readers what bundling is and if they wanted it, leaving the term deliberately vague. For those who may need a refresher, content bundling refers to paying a single price for an assortment of titles (such as the very popular "Humble Ebook Bundle"), while format bundling refers to receiving multiple copies of a title in different formats (such as ePub, PDF, MOBI) with a single purchase.
There were 662 answers to the bundling question. While many readers did not know exactly what it referred to, 296 mentioned a specific type of bundling. 73 responders were in favor of content bundling, with 34 against, while 55 were neutral. For format bundling, 80 were in favor, with 22 opposed and 22 neutral.
Continuing the Nitty Gritty tradition, the raw data is available to all who wish to use it. It can be found here. --Alex Mutter