I’ve just read this blog post about a new subscription model for content on e-readers, based on the fact that:
“We have statistically calculated the average consumption for tablet users and smartphone users, which is lower than one book per month,’
Now, I’m not entirely sure which tablet or smartphone users they based their prediction on, but I know that my reading levels have definitely gone up since getting an e-reader. Now, I not only am buying books frequently from charity shops, but I’m downloading free, cheap and even full-price e-books, depending on the urgency of my desire to read them (e.g.if I read the first part of a trilogy and enjoyed it, I’d be highly likely to download the second and third parts, regardless of price, if I really wanted to keep going with the flow of the books). In November, I realised I’d read (at a conservative estimate, as I don’t keep much track of the physical books I read, but I do have a “Read” file on my e-reader) at least 44 books that year, up to that point. By the end of the year I’d read 54 (it woulda been 55 if I hadn’t started reading an ENORMOUS tome at the end of the year), and the fact that the second I’d finished one, I could flip onto the next was a great enabler. Plus the fact that it was convenient to chuck in my handbag, and use on the bus, at lunchtimes while in the kitchen, in bed etc.
So, my question is this: if you have a smartphone and/or a tablet, and e-reader, has it helped you to read more? Or is the calculation above correct: are you to busy to read a book a month?