By Zachary Burd ’19, Staff Writer

The advent of the smartphone has killed the landline phone. Now, the dawn of the eBook is killing the printed book.

Back in 1930, American Bob Brown, in his book The Readies, foretold of a machine able to hold multiple books in a miniaturized format, dooming the printed book to obsolescence. Now, 75 years later, it seems as if it will come to pass.

The recent publishing giant Amazon now sells more eBooks than paperbacks and hardcovers combined through its Kindle e-Reader. Since its release in 2007, eBook sales have reached record highs each year and show no sign of slowing. They now account for almost 35 percent of all books sold in the United States and Kindle sales alone account for over 20 percent. Amazon has a near-monopoly on the eBook industry with over 70 percent of sales. Next comes Apple’s iBooks at slightly over 10 percent and finally, Barnes and Noble’s Nook at 9%.

Barnes and Noble, the largest retail bookseller in the United States, has suffered considerably over the last several years. Their stock price and revenue has fallen consistently over the last five years, due simply to their plunge in sales. Amazon’s disproportionate share of the eBook market has been crippling to many in the publishing and book retail industries, who in many cases have been forced to accept lopsided and unfavorable deals from the Internet-based retailer simply to avoid bankruptcy. Amazon, whose book sales account for 7 percent of its yearly revenue, has been compared unfavorably in the publishing world to Standard Oil and its monopoly on gas before its breakup in 1911.

Through its Kindle Unlimited service, Amazon offers customers limitless access to over 600,000 of its eBooks for only a 10 dollar monthly fee, attracting many avid readers that had previously accounted for a large percentage of the print market. There are, however, advantages and disadvantages to both, bibliophiles say.

The advantages of eBooks, says avid writer and reader James Blume ’19, is that they “are more compact, economic, and easier to carry.” He noted, however, that “a hundred years ago, people really thought movies and television and movies would change the culture of the book. And while that happened partially, people will still always go back to books, since books have a culture and tradition around them that people will actively follow and even pay more money for. I do not think that normal books will ever go out of date.”

The issue of digitalized literature has nonetheless polarized many readers. As she prepared to move crates of books from her car into her already-crowded classroom, eighth grade English teacher and poet Dr. LaPadula remarked, “Personally, the screen tires my eyes, and I feel like I have enough screen time as it is. For me, it is an aesthetic and an economic choice. I choose to spend more money on my printed books . . . When I look at my books, I feel like I’m looking at my friends, and I can call up memories and experiences that go with them in a way I cannot [with eBooks]. It comes down to sentimentality versus economics.”

For some, technology has finally caught up with the last vestiges of print. Spanish teacher and published author Aaron Weiss noted that, “At this point in time, readers can access far more material for far smaller costs with far greater ease using eBooks. Those readers that are vocal about preferring paper books do so for personal reasons [like] nostalgia, collecting, the sense of accomplishment one gains by touching the pages as they go through one’s hand.”

Many authors find themselves in direct opposition to the market for digital literature. While it does enable more writers to be published, authors receive a lower royalty rate than in print books despite the highly reduced production costs. It is they who suffer most in the shift from paper to digital. The venue of eBooks may be shifting, though, from traditional e-readers to mobile devices such as tablets and phones. This has spurred fears in the publishing industry, as a recent study found that people on e-readers bought 24 books a year, compared to those on mobile devices with 15. Books on tablets and phones have to vie for the user’s attention with other notifications and social media platforms, lowering the status of eBooks to just another app.

The demographics of the eBook reader may be changing, too. Only a quarter of American adults read eBooks on a regular basis, compared with 54 percent for children, remarkably more than double the amount. 85 percent of those children read at least once a week.

eBook sales have reached record highs each year, and show no sign of slowing. Some say that books are doomed to the same fate as the horse and buggy: replaced by technology and relegated to a dusty corner in a museum. Yet a recent resurgence in the sales of print editions disputes that claim. As Dr. LaPadula put it, “The real benefit [of print books] for me is that you have the opportunity to pick them like fruit, and then decide whether or not they are juicy or sour!” For some dedicated readers, the time-honored allure of the printed book can never be replaced by the hypnotic light of a screen, no matter the price.

For further information:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2014/02/10/amazon-vs-book-publishers-by-the-numbers/

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/19/slightly-fewer-americans-are-reading-print-books-new-survey-finds/