Is the writing on the wall for books?
As we moved in to our new apartment (I mean flat) last weekend, the moving company guys remarked that for a guy who works for a tech company, I have an awful lot of books. It’s true, we (my wife and I) do have a LOT of books. All sorts of books – travel guides, reference books, novels, technical books, photo/coffee table books and frankly they weight a LOT. That’s why the guys who moved us in asked “don’t you use technology, have you never heard of the Internet?”. Clearly the answer to both of those is yes and though I don’t own an ebook reader like the Kindle or an iPad, two posts on the web today made me wonder whether the book is about to decline as a medium.
First up, is a piece about Kindle Outselling iBooks 60 To 1 which isn’t what piqued my interest. It was more that a previously mildly successful author could become more wealthy through ebooks than traditional books. Not really surprising but interesting to see an clear example in action.
Second up is the New York Times bestselling author and marketing guru, Seth Godin vows to never publish traditionally again. I own most of Seth’s books and would count myself as a fan. It’s no surprise to see him take this route given his mantra is built on topics such as distribution, technology and making things viral.
So, do these things add up to the imminent downfall of books? Of course not though they’re both good indicators that the guard is changing from the publishing end of things even if the consumption is still limited to the tech savvy.
Does it mean I’m going to dash out and buy an iPad or Kindle? I doubt it…I can’t bring myself to buy an iPad from a cost/benefit point of view and though I like the idea of the single use efficiency of the Kindle and the bookstore, I just can’t get excited about the device itself.
Am I a luddite? Maybe…but books aren’t going away just yet from the world at large or the Clayton household…however, the resistance to digital has taken a few body blows for me personally over the last few weeks so maybe I’ll change my tune before Christmas.
[update] Rory does a much better job at diving in to the details than I did