E-Book Sales Top Traditional Printing

In another blog posting, I spoke of the new "Kindle with Special Offers" edition of Amazon's e-Book (electronic book) reader that is very hot right now. If you are seeking a job in today's technology field, having some knowledge of things like e-Book technology, as well as other electronic formatting, could be a big plus depending on your field of expertise. For years now, electronic versions of company manuals, forms, etc. have all been available for ease of transfer and download, but the e-book technology adds a new dimension to the technology, and these readers are quickly becoming common place.

It was just reported this past week, that e-book sales in February had actually topped sales in all other categories of traditional publishing, for the first time ever. Sales were up over 200% from the same time last year, putting e-books at the number one position "among all categories of trade publishing" for the month.

While they note that the reporting is not necessarily 100% accurate due to the numbers reported coming from publishers and not retailers, it still does provide an amazing look at the current trend. A surge in the numbers is usually expected in the January and February months, since e-readers are becoming more common as gifts for the Christmas season. With an ever increasing support of e-books and readers available, from the Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook, Border's Kobo, the tablet computers like the iPad, and even now the cell phone apps that support e-books, the push is on in this industry just like it has been now for years in the field of music, and now even the movie industry.

Marc Parrish, a Barnes and Nobel executive predicts that traditional book retailers have about two-years to "adapt to an e-book-centric industry." "The book business is changing more radically now, and quicker than movies or music or newspapers have, because we're doing it in a matter of months...[The] next 24 months is when this business will totally shift," states Parrish.

I guess I am still one of the old school people that loves the feel of a good heavy physical book in my hand; to have the ability to scan pages quickly, highlight points, make notes in the margin, and easily pick it up and flip through rapidly for my notes. It will be some time before I am sold on e-books, but it is the technology of a new generation. I have mostly resisted the music download craze too, though I occasionally will buy something for download if it is hard to find and/or much cheaper. The sound quality of an uncompressed CD is just much more sonically full than an MP3 download, and likewise, a good book in hand is a more full "feeling" than a little pad - for me at this time at least.

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Tech Careers blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.