Some vague stats on e-reader usage
NPD has released some interesting, though infuriatingly vague, tidbits on usage patterns for e-reader owners. Buried inside this press release (which seems to hang off the sloppily-worded “95 percent of e-readers owners are happy with their devices”) is something enormously interesting:
[It] seems that e-Reader owners aren’t married to their e-Readers to do their reading. About three-in-ten owners say they use at least one another device for reading e-books, such as a PC or a smartphone.
This suggests that format- and device-shifting will be important to at least a third of the potential market, which means things like DRM and device lock-ins would likely cause some dissatisfaction.
Of course, we could probably get more insight into this if the study had looked at attitudes toward DRM, but that doesn’t appear to be the case (I asked but haven’t received a reply, and the full report is behind a paywall), because If it had looked at these issues, the statement probably wouldn’t have ended with this strange quote:
“As the recent introduction of Apple’s iPad demonstrates, applications now on smartphones benefit from larger screens, and industry leaders are recognizing the importance of supporting multiple platforms by supporting multiple clients and open standards.”
I’m not sure what this means — it’s either naive about these issues, or is intentionally ignoring it. Kindle books, for example, can only be read on Kindles (or approved devices), iPad books will presumably have similar DRM and licences. Open standards? ePub is an open standard, but that doesn’t mean it’s DRM-free.
Now’s the time for some good, solid research into e-reading, and although I haven’t seen the full report, NPD’s statement of ‘highlights’ doesn’t bode well.
(If anyone with access to the report can tell me whether the study looks at DRM or EULAs, please let me know.)
