Good e-Reader Radio

One of the most common questions people have with e-readers and e-books is the exact number of pages are inconsistent with the print edition. This is primarily due to the fact that e-books don’t have “pages” in the usual sense. Anytime you see a mention of e-book pagecount, it’s an abstraction. Sort of like if […]

e-Reader ownership is at an all time low according to Pew Research. The company released new data on device ownership and found 19% of adults reported owning an e-reader, such as a Kindle or Nook.This is a sizable drop from early 2014, when 32% of adults owned this type of device.

The decline in dedicated e-ink e-readers is directly proportional to the rise of smartphones and tablets. 68% of adults now have a smartphone, nearly double the share that Pew Research Center measured in its first survey on smartphone ownership in mid-2011. At that point, 35% of adults had smartphones.

Pew also found that 45% of U.S. adults own a tablet – a substantial increase since Pew Research Center began measuring tablet ownership in 2010. Then, only 4% of adults in the U.S. were tablet owners. Ownership, however, is statistically the same as it was in 2014.

There is no denying that smartphone and tablet ownership have usurped market share away from dedicated e-readers. When it comes to reading e-books though, the smartphone is reigning supreme.

The Wall Street Journal reported this summer that it is the smartphone that is our technology of choice to read e-books on a regular basis. Their premise derived from a recent Nielsen survey of 2,000 people last December. It found that 54% of e-book buyers said they used smartphones to read their books at least some of the time. That’s up from 24% in 2012, which is a huge gain.

Apple has seen an increase in the number of people downloading books onto iPhones through its iBooks app. Some 45% of iBooks purchases are now downloaded onto iPhones, an Apple spokeswoman said. Before that, only 28% were downloaded onto phones, with most of the remainder downloaded onto iPads and a small percentage onto computers.

An Amazon spokesman said "Among all new customers using Kindles or the Kindle app, phone readers are by far the fastest-growing segment."

Have e-readers had their day in the sun in the US market? Pew only interviewed a few thousand people, which certainly is not indicative of a unilateral consensus.

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e-Reader ownership is at an all time low according to Pew Research. The company released new data on device ownership and found 19% of adults reported owning an e-reader, such as a Kindle or Nook.This is a sizable drop from early 2014, when 32% of adults owned this type of device.

The decline in dedicated e-ink e-readers is directly proportional to the rise of smartphones and tablets. 68% of adults now have a smartphone, nearly double the share that Pew Research Center measured in its first survey on smartphone ownership in mid-2011. At that point, 35% of adults had smartphones.

Pew also found that 45% of U.S. adults own a tablet – a substantial increase since Pew Research Center began measuring tablet ownership in 2010. Then, only 4% of adults in the U.S. were tablet owners. Ownership, however, is statistically the same as it was in 2014.

There is no denying that smartphone and tablet ownership have usurped market share away from dedicated e-readers. When it comes to reading e-books though, the smartphone is reigning supreme.

The Wall Street Journal reported this summer that it is the smartphone that is our technology of choice to read e-books on a regular basis. Their premise derived from a recent Nielsen survey of 2,000 people last December. It found that 54% of e-book buyers said they used smartphones to read their books at least some of the time. That’s up from 24% in 2012, which is a huge gain.

Apple has seen an increase in the number of people downloading books onto iPhones through its iBooks app. Some 45% of iBooks purchases are now downloaded onto iPhones, an Apple spokeswoman said. Before that, only 28% were downloaded onto phones, with most of the remainder downloaded onto iPads and a small percentage onto computers.

An Amazon spokesman said “Among all new customers using Kindles or the Kindle app, phone readers are by far the fastest-growing segment.”

Have e-readers had their day in the sun in the US market? Pew only interviewed a few thousand people, which certainly is not indicative of a unilateral consensus.

Michael Kozlowski( Editor in Chief )Michael Kozlowski has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past twelve years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

goodereader.com/blog/

Barnes and Noble has just released their first e-reader since 2009, with the advent of the Nook Glowlight Plus. It sounds fairly good on paper, with the same high resolution screen found on the Amazon Kindle Voyage and is waterproof, much akin to the Kobo H2O. It also has software not found in any other e-readers on the market, such as  Nook Profiles and Nook Readouts. Has Barnes and Noble hit a home run with the Nook Glowlight Plus and most importantly, will you buy it?

The Barnes and Noble Nook Glowlight Plus features a six inch e-Ink Carta display with a resolution of 1430 x 1080 and 300 PPI. This e-reader is waterproof, similar to the Kobo Aura H2o.  It is IP67 certified, which means you could leave it submerged in fresh water for up to 30 minutes at a maximum depth of 1 meter. 

There is no word yet on what processor this model has but it does employ 512 MB of RAM. One of the good things about the Glowlight Plus is that it does not have the same limitations of previous models. You used to have only 512 MB of internal memory for your own e-book collection, but this has been since upgraded to 2GB.  In total, you now have 4 GB of available storage, but use it wisely, since there is no SD card. 

The Nook Glowlight Plus is a modern e-reader that does not push the envelop with its hardware, but remains competitive. This is very refreshing for the bookseller to offer a compelling alternative for users who have since switched to doing business with Amazon or Kobo.

On the software front, there has been some noticeable UI changes and a few new features like Nook profiles and Nook Readouts.

B&N Readouts comprises of book excerpts in popular genres and topics, including Fiction, Romance, Mysteries & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult, Lifestyle, Books & Ideas, Science & Tech and Business & Innovation. It also offers customers sneak peeks of upcoming books and special bonus content from authors and publishers. There is also featured articles from a myriad of magazines too, giving you a sense of featured stories, without having to actually download or purchase the entire issue.

Barnes and Noble Nook Profiles is similar to what they did with the Nook Color and Nook Tablet.  It allows you to setup separate profiles for up to six users, which is ideal for people who share their e-readers. Individual users can decide which titles they want to share with the other profiles and there is some developed parental controls, so that kids can't make their own purchases.

Is this an e-reader you will buy? It does offer software features not found on any other dedicated e-ink device on the market. I think its a viable upgrade if you have the Nook Simple Touch, Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, the features found on the new model will be absolutely huge. If you have the Nook Glowlight from 2013, I think the waterproof nature will be a tremendous boon. There is a large contingent of readers that like to read while soaking in a bath, or are a klutz like me and dump coffee on it.  What do you guys think? Will you buy it, or wait for more reviews before making a decision?

Listen to to the audio version of this story.

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Barnes and Noble has just released their first e-reader since 2009, with the advent of the Nook Glowlight Plus. It sounds fairly good on paper, with the same high resolution screen found on the Amazon Kindle Voyage and is waterproof, much akin to the Kobo H2O. It also has software not found in any other e-readers on the market, such as  Nook Profiles and Nook Readouts. Has Barnes and Noble hit a home run with the Nook Glowlight Plus and most importantly, will you buy it?

The Barnes and Noble Nook Glowlight Plus features a six inch e-Ink Carta display with a resolution of 1430 x 1080 and 300 PPI. This e-reader is waterproof, similar to the Kobo Aura H2o.  It is IP67 certified, which means you could leave it submerged in fresh water for up to 30 minutes at a maximum depth of 1 meter. 

There is no word yet on what processor this model has but it does employ 512 MB of RAM. One of the good things about the Glowlight Plus is that it does not have the same limitations of previous models. You used to have only 512 MB of internal memory for your own e-book collection, but this has been since upgraded to 2GB.  In total, you now have 4 GB of available storage, but use it wisely, since there is no SD card. 

The Nook Glowlight Plus is a modern e-reader that does not push the envelop with its hardware, but remains competitive. This is very refreshing for the bookseller to offer a compelling alternative for users who have since switched to doing business with Amazon or Kobo.

On the software front, there has been some noticeable UI changes and a few new features like Nook profiles and Nook Readouts.

B&N Readouts comprises of book excerpts in popular genres and topics, including Fiction, Romance, Mysteries & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult, Lifestyle, Books & Ideas, Science & Tech and Business & Innovation. It also offers customers sneak peeks of upcoming books and special bonus content from authors and publishers. There is also featured articles from a myriad of magazines too, giving you a sense of featured stories, without having to actually download or purchase the entire issue.

Barnes and Noble Nook Profiles is similar to what they did with the Nook Color and Nook Tablet.  It allows you to setup separate profiles for up to six users, which is ideal for people who share their e-readers. Individual users can decide which titles they want to share with the other profiles and there is some developed parental controls, so that kids can’t make their own purchases.

Is this an e-reader you will buy? It does offer software features not found on any other dedicated e-ink device on the market. I think its a viable upgrade if you have the Nook Simple Touch, Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, the features found on the new model will be absolutely huge. If you have the Nook Glowlight from 2013, I think the waterproof nature will be a tremendous boon. There is a large contingent of readers that like to read while soaking in a bath, or are a klutz like me and dump coffee on it.  What do you guys think? Will you buy it, or wait for more reviews before making a decision?

Listen to to the audio version of this story.

Michael Kozlowski( Editor in Chief )Michael Kozlowski has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past twelve years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

goodereader.com/blog/

Amazon has just launched a white Kindle in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. This is the first non-black model to be released in Europe since the first generation Kindle that came out in 2007.  It is important to note that this is not a new e-reader, this is simply the same entry level Kindle Basic that was released late last year. The only thing that is different is the color, which should resonate with people who want to standout in a crowd.

Listen to the audio version of this story, with expanded commentary.

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Amazon has just launched a white Kindle in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. This is the first non-black model to be released in Europe since the first generation Kindle that came out in 2007.  It is important to note that this is not a new e-reader, this is simply the same entry level Kindle Basic that was released late last year. The only thing that is different is the color, which should resonate with people who want to standout in a crowd.

Listen to the audio version of this story, with expanded commentary.

Michael Kozlowski( Editor in Chief )Michael Kozlowski has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past twelve years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

goodereader.com/blog/

The Amazon Kindle Voyage was released late last year and for all intents and purpose the e-reader was a complete flop. It was the least purchased and least reviewed product that the Seattle company has released in a number of years. So what went wrong?

Amazon never releases sales figures for their hardware division in all of their fiscal reports. The only way to accurately determine how many units have been sold is to look at verified reviews.

The Kindle Voyage has only garnered 7,342 reviews on Amazon since it launched in November of 2014. This is fairly paltry considering the entry level Kindle Basic Touch came out at the exact same time and has 12,389 customer reviews. Things are so bleak for the Voyage, in terms of sales that the 4 month old Kindle Paperwhite has more reviews, clocking in at 7,684.

One of the reasons why the Kindle Voyage was such as flop was because of the high price. The device retails at $199, whereas the Paperwhite 3 is $119 and normally can be purchased on-sale for an additional $20 in savings. The Basic is the cheapest of them all, and can be yours at a very respectable $79.

When e-readers first rose to popularity from 2007 to 2012, they were fairly expensive. Most new devices cost around $300, and trended upwards depending on the screen size. Over the last few years they have drastically fallen in price, as innovation has ground to a halt and companies are trying to make the cheapest device possible. Customers have been trained that e-readers should be super affordable now and Amazon has realized that once you jack the price up, people are not going to respond. The same thing has happened with e-book pricing, people were trained that $9.99 was the standard and now publishers are charging anywhere from $12.99 to 17.99. This has resulted in e-book sales falling in the high single digits over 2015.

Listen to the audio version of this story with expanded commentary.

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The Amazon Kindle Voyage was released late last year and for all intents and purpose the e-reader was a complete flop. It was the least purchased and least reviewed product that the Seattle company has released in a number of years. So what went wrong?

Amazon never releases sales figures for their hardware division in all of their fiscal reports. The only way to accurately determine how many units have been sold is to look at verified reviews.

The Kindle Voyage has only garnered 7,342 reviews on Amazon since it launched in November of 2014. This is fairly paltry considering the entry level Kindle Basic Touch came out at the exact same time and has 12,389 customer reviews. Things are so bleak for the Voyage, in terms of sales that the 4 month old Kindle Paperwhite has more reviews, clocking in at 7,684.

One of the reasons why the Kindle Voyage was such as flop was because of the high price. The device retails at $199, whereas the Paperwhite 3 is $119 and normally can be purchased on-sale for an additional $20 in savings. The Basic is the cheapest of them all, and can be yours at a very respectable $79.

When e-readers first rose to popularity from 2007 to 2012, they were fairly expensive. Most new devices cost around $300, and trended upwards depending on the screen size. Over the last few years they have drastically fallen in price, as innovation has ground to a halt and companies are trying to make the cheapest device possible. Customers have been trained that e-readers should be super affordable now and Amazon has realized that once you jack the price up, people are not going to respond. The same thing has happened with e-book pricing, people were trained that $9.99 was the standard and now publishers are charging anywhere from $12.99 to 17.99. This has resulted in e-book sales falling in the high single digits over 2015.

Listen to the audio version of this story with expanded commentary.

Michael Kozlowski( Editor in Chief )Michael Kozlowski has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past twelve years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

goodereader.com/blog/

Over the course of 2015 there has been a number of notable new e-readers that have hit the market. Barnes and Noble released their first new model in almost three years with the Nook Glowlight Plus, while Kobo released two different units. All eyes are on Amazon right now for their Kindle Voyage 2, Kindle Paperwhite 4 and entry level Kindle Basic, which should be announced in the next few weeks. With so many models to choose from, what features is the average customer looking for? We seek to address this question with new research report, from Good e-Reader.

Two weeks ago we asked the question What do you look for in an e-reader. 1724 people took part in the survey and they weighed in on everything from the size of the screen, to brand name recognition.

The number one feature that is most important to people looking to buy a new e-reader is resolution. In the last two years with the advent of e-Ink Carta e-readers have dramatically increased in clarity and 300 PPI is the norm. This results in crisper text and being able to accurately read a wider variety of digital content, such as manga, newspapers and PDF files. 314 people, which amounted to 18%, said this was most important.

252 people or 14.62% of the vote said that an e-reader that supported multiple e-book formats was most important to them. This is not surprising because there are a number of formats out there, each with their own virtues. Amazon has their own proprietary e-book format, which makes their entire line of e-readers not very viable if you want to borrow e-book from the library or shop around online for deals. Most other devices on the market support EPUB, which is compatible with most e-readers.

242 people, which represented 14% of the overall vote said that screen size was one of the most important feature they looked for in a new e-reader. Almost all of the e-readers currently available in the North American market are six inches in size, which is fairly pocket friendly and cheap to manufacture. Meanwhile, in Europe there are a number of companies making larger screen e-readers, such as the Icarus XL and Onyx Boox i86, but they suffer from viability issues and brand awareness.

Other notable features that people look for, is PDF compatibility and a good rendering engine (12.65%) and an SD Card, to enhance internal storage (11.48%). The average user also thinks running Android is important, so they can install their own e-reading apps and not be locked into any one specific ecosystem (7.37%)

What surprised me about this data is that some of the features that I thought were important to the current generation of e-readers did not resonate well with our audience. Only 5.74% said audio was important, while 2.67% said Bluetooth was critical for their buying decisions. Finally, 4.81% mentioned that brand name recognition was most important, a Kindle for Kindles sake.

This is great data, and should be seriously considered by any company looking to enter the e-reader space or are in the process of designing one.

Listen to the audio version of this report, with expanded commentary.

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