Let's Start Burning Books! We've Got Kindle(ing) Now!
I accidentally bought a book today. No, a book didn’t get slipped in with my pile of groceries at Jewel or my pile of clothes at American Eagle, I was using a Kindle (The digital book-reading device recently released by Amazon). A relevant topic for someone just starting out in the publishing industry, right? Well, the phrase “with the touch of a button” became ever so real to me today. If I end up in a marketing job in publishing I can just see myself calculating the number of “accidental sales” from Kindle users. We could use that fund to pay for our office parties (yacht gala anyone?).
Anyway, back to my story. I was g-chatting with one of my friends and she asked me if I had read The Shack. I hadn’t, but I pulled up the sample of it on the Kindle and could have easily purchased it for $8.49. Actually, I did purchase it—unintentionally. In my experience of online shopping you get at least three confirmation pages and two warnings before you actually buy something, so Kindle users be warned: if your Kindle asks you to make a purchase, it means business.
After returning the Kindle to its very helpful owner, Andrew Bronson, I went to look up copies of The Shack at my local library. All checked out. The Kindle was looking pretty appealing, but kind of pricey for a college student. The Kindle 2 is selling for $359.00, and I can’t really afford to buy a book every time I read one, so it looks like I’ll still be sticking with the slow, good ol’ fashioned library for now. Except … I forgot about my iPod Touch there for a second. Just by downloading an application I avoid the $359.00 fee. Tempting …
And therein lies the future of book publishing. In fact, the last non-textbook book I bought for myself was probably over a year ago. My book-purchasing hiatus is not due to Kindle but libraries, with which publishers have coexisted peacefully for a while now. Inevitably, though, with the expansion of technology, the print circulation numbers for all publishing companies are going to continue to drop.
This doesn’t need to be a complete disaster, however. Really, inventions like the Kindle are helping to save paper and all that good environmental stuff. Publishing companies just need to continue to adjust as they switch to a more digital world. Change is never easy, though, and it would probably be easier entering a more stable industry upon graduation; I guess I’ll just have to embrace these transitional times and view them as exciting rather than tumultuous.
Posted by Michelle Read
at March 27, 2009 10:02 AM
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