Since the Christmas Season I’ve seen a dramatic shift in book reading. Last year THREE HUNDRED ZEROES was predominantly the print version, but now it is by and far the electronic version, especially the Kindle. As much as I love to hold a print version of a book in my hand, I have the feeling that it will soon be a minor part of the reading industry.
There are many advantages to an eBook: portability of many books at once, small size, free books and easy to read in the dark. Print books have advantages too: portable, pages can be dog-eared, pages can be ripped out, and if lost, easily replaced.
I suspect before long however there will be free eBook readers. It will end up like the cell phone scenario where the phone company offers a free phone so you’ll use the service. Kindles are now $139 and they seem to keep dropping. Excuse the pun, but the writing is on the wall.
Add to all this the price difference, the Kindle version lists for $9.95, the print version, $17.95, that has to be a factor.
When I look at sales reports for THREE HUNDRED ZEROES, I feel a real affinity for the print version report, but I guess I’m going to have to let go of that and appreciate that the eBook is here to stay. I guess the next decision will be, which reader? Nook, Ipad, Sony or Kindle?
Dennis “K1” Blanchard