The Rise of Phone Reading

[Paul Whybrow]

The book industry is in such a state of flux these days that statistics about any aspect of the trade are likely to change hugely from year to year.

Some of this is down to new technology and the cunning ways that books are marketed. This feels a bit like a tail wagging the dog situation to me, with little regard being given to the quality of the writing. By this I mean that readers are reading books that are trendy - because everyone else they know is reading them.

This article contains some startling statistics about how people are reading books now. Just the way that phone reading has risen 30% in three years, while Kindle use has dropped from 50% to 32% surprised me.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rise-of-phone-reading-1439398395?tesla=y&mg=id-wsj

Hopefully this trend won't lead to accidents such as this:

 

[Jason Byrne]

The book industry is in such a state of flux these days that statistics about any aspect of the trade are likely to change hugely from year to year.

Some of this is down to new technology and the cunning ways that books are marketed. This feels a bit like a tail wagging the dog situation to me, with little regard being given to the quality of the writing. By this I mean that readers are reading books that are trendy - because everyone else they know is reading them.

This article contains some startling statistics about how people are reading books now. Just the way that phone reading has risen 30% in three years, while Kindle use has dropped from 50% to 32% surprised me.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rise-of-phone-reading-1439398395?tesla=y&mg=id-wsj

Hopefully this trend won't lead to accidents such as this:

Haha, take that lady. Schadenfreude! You know they have separate sidewalks with guard rails in Japan, for people to use while texting so they don't hurt themselves. That's sad. I did trip over a bad bit of sidewalk while texting once and felt stupid, but in my defense there are no good bits of sidewalk where I live.

I proofread my books in the Word app on my iPhone, which is extra-challenging because it's a 4. And the screen is shattered. I would much rather read on my tablet, though, which is kept safely and perpetually forgotten in the glove box of my car.

 

[River_Writer]

A friend recently told me he read "Shogun" entirely on his phone. That doesn't appeal to me at all. I'm still the old school holdout who wants a real book in her hands. I accept it's a Kindle world more and more now, but reading a book, especially a lengthy one, on the phone just makes me shake my head.

 

[Jason Byrne]

A friend recently told me he read "Shogun" entirely on his phone. That doesn't appeal to me at all. I'm still the old school holdout who wants a real book in her hands. I accept it's a Kindle world more and more now, but reading a book, especially a lengthy one, on the phone just makes me shake my head.

College students still prefer hard textbooks, at least — they can jot notes and such. For me, it will never be a Kindle world. I have been so set on traditional publishing I actually forgot about the Kindle entirely — I want to see a book on a shelf. It's what we grew up with — nothing will ever match that, for me at least. Now, when it comes to reference material, I love being able to search PDFs for a phrase and skip through them. It cuts out minutes of flipping through pages. Those add up.

 

[Jason Byrne]

And then there was that girl that was on here for all of a week, that wrote her entire book on her phone, Miss Muses.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

I'm still an old school romantic when it comes to books; I love holding a book and the act of turning a page. I'm not an anti-e reader person, but i think the devices are over-priced. Why should I pay £200 for a decent e-reader and then pay for the books I want to read? When I can just use the same money to buy the books in paper form. I know I can get them second hand for a much reduced price, but most of the ones in my town have some screen damage, or are still too much for my pockets. One day, I might get an e-reader.

 

[Jason Byrne]

I'm still an old school romantic when it comes to books; I love holding a book and the act of turning a page. I'm not an anti-e reader person, but i think the devices are over-priced. Why should I pay £200 for a decent e-reader and then pay for the books I want to read? When I can just use the same money to buy the books in paper form. I know I can get them second hand for a much reduced price, but most of the ones in my town have some screen damage, or are still too much for my pockets. One day, I might get an e-reader.

I got one for reading my own story files, but then there were tablets and they could do the same thing, and also other things.

 

[River_Writer]

The idea of writing one's book on a phone makes my brain hurt.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Paper does have certain advantages...

 

[Jason Byrne]

The idea of writing one's book on a phone makes my brain hurt.

Right?

 

[Jason Byrne]

Paper does have certain advantages...

That's a good one.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

The idea of writing one's book on a phone makes my brain hurt.

Every once in a while I'll be without my laptop but time to write, so I'll write a chapter or so on my phone (keep in mind, my chapters are only like 2-3 pages long). But it's incredibly frustrating to write on this small screen (on which I am typing this message). I could not imagine writing an entire book this way.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

I'm still an old school romantic when it comes to books; I love holding a book and the act of turning a page. I'm not an anti-e reader person, but i think the devices are over-priced. Why should I pay £200 for a decent e-reader and then pay for the books I want to read? When I can just use the same money to buy the books in paper form. I know I can get them second hand for a much reduced price, but most of the ones in my town have some screen damage, or are still too much for my pockets. One day, I might get an e-reader.

I have free Nook & Kindle apps on my phone, but that's only for books that are only e-books. Even then, it's frustrating. I love holding a book in my hands. Plus, I am a chronic book-sniffer. But my phone doesn't smell very good, so it loses something.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I have free Nook & Kindle apps on my phone, but that's only for books that are only e-books. Even then, it's frustrating. I love holding a book in my hands. Plus, I am a chronic book-sniffer. But my phone doesn't smell very good, so it loses something.

Here's a quote that you might like, Nicole: "Oh, delightful! To cut open the leaves, to inhale the fragrance of the scarcely dry paper, to examine the type to see who is the printer (which is some clue to the value that is set upon the work), to launch out into regions of thought and invention never trod till now, and to explore characters that never met a human eye before -- this is a luxury worth sacrificing a dinner-party, or a few hours of a spare morning to." William Hazlitt

 

[Nicole Wilson]

Here's a quote that you might like, Nicole: "Oh, delightful! To cut open the leaves, to inhale the fragrance of the scarcely dry paper, to examine the type to see who is the printer (which is some clue to the value that is set upon the work), to launch out into regions of thought and invention never trod till now, and to explore characters that never met a human eye before -- this is a luxury worth sacrificing a dinner-party, or a few hours of a spare morning to." William Hazlitt

*inhales loudly* Mmm, I can practically smell the books from here.

 

[River_Writer]

*raising hand* Chronic book sniffer.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

I have a Kobo and Kindle app on my laptop, but no books to really read with them yet.