California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

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Just Embrace Books, Digital or Print

The real fight betwen digital and print books is a
person’s preference.

Devices like the Nook, Kindle, iPad, smart phones and computers continue to push forward new forms of technology into consumer’s hands.

They have also pushed other media forms forward in new ways, namely in a digital format. Among those media forms is one of mankind’s longest enduring: the book.

Since the introduction of the Kindle e-reader by Amazon in 2007, the total revenue share of digital books has steadily risen.

In 2010, digital books made up 6.4 percent of the revenue made by book sales, according to the Association of American Publishers, but in the first five months of 2011 that number jumped to roughly 20 percent for the period.

With the bankruptcy of Borders and disappearance of other bookstores, the rise of digital books can easily be framed as signaling an end to print books. Yet a closer look at book sales from last year indicates that print book sales are still flourishing.

Both softcover and hardcover book sales were up in 2010 in overall books sold and revenue made, according to the Association of American Publishers. Mass market trade paperbacks however significantly decreased in both categories.

That does not signal an end to print books, just an end to the manner in which the book industry has operated to this point.

The entire industry is being pushed forward by the explosion of digital books and has to restructure itself to this new reality, including the drop in sales of mass market trade paperbacks.

Even a bookseller like Barnes & Noble has adjusted with the sale of the Nook e-reader. The company is readjusting to the needs of consumers demanding digital books while continuing to sell print books.

Libraries have also begun to embrace the new digital era of books. Nearly 67 percent of libraries now offer some access to digital books, according to a report issued by the American Library Association.

All this boils down to is a growing industry that continues to offer consumers a myriad of choices for how they wish to consume books in either digital or print formats. It does not signal some apocalyptic end to printed books.

That is ultimately what the argument over print and digital books boils down to for both sides, the idea that progress for one must come at the cost or very extinction of the other.

While that has certainly rung true in some regard for mass market trade paperbacks it does not ring true for the remainder of the book industry. Readers of both formats continue to buy books at an increasing rate.

So whatever the format any consumer prefers the continued focus on buying and reading books that has sprung up around digital books is good for the industry. I myself am an example of an individual who continues to buy only printed books to show my support for the format, even when I have access to digital books.

There are millions more like me who only buy print, millions who only buy digital and millions who buy both formats. Altogether these consumers are pushing forward the book industry as a whole.
So go out and buy books in whatever format you enjoy the most, whether it is digital or print. We are all ultimately contributing to a new era for one of our oldest treasures.

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California State University East Bay
Just Embrace Books, Digital or Print