Research released yesterday from Simba Information essentially says that because 68% of respondents read e-books on a PC, the Kindle’s and iPad’s of the world are going to have a tough time finding interested buyers.
People said the same thing in 1984 about PC’s and we don’t buy it.
The difficulty with research and focus groups when it comes to lifestyle-changing technology is that it’s a rare person who can envision what they want. We tend to view our needs through our current lens of reality. This is why Apple doesn’t do focus groups.
We believe media developers should focus on the delivery platforms—the means used to “get” something and the technology used, in this case, to display the content. (Not that the hardware isn’t important, because it can be.)
With that in mind whether someone reads on a PC or an iPad or a Blackberry is irrelevant. How is this possible? By producing your content in formats supported by the widest range of devices. Websites on the Internet is the best example.
Another is Amazon’s Kindle format. They have versions for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and of course, the PC.
I’m sure the Simba report has some interesting information but if you can’t afford its $2,795 price tag, and you are interested in some e-book research, check out Stephen Windwalker’s Kindle Nation Winter 2010 Citizen Survey results. It is specific to Kindle but by most accounts, Kindle-formatted content represents 80% of the e-book content market. (Plus this report is free!)
Who needs a computer?
People said the same thing in 1984 about PC’s and we don’t buy it.
The difficulty with research and focus groups when it comes to lifestyle-changing technology is that it’s a rare person who can envision what they want. We tend to view our needs through our current lens of reality. This is why Apple doesn’t do focus groups.
We believe media developers should focus on the delivery platforms—the means used to “get” something and the technology used, in this case, to display the content. (Not that the hardware isn’t important, because it can be.)
With that in mind whether someone reads on a PC or an iPad or a Blackberry is irrelevant. How is this possible? By producing your content in formats supported by the widest range of devices. Websites on the Internet is the best example.
Another is Amazon’s Kindle format. They have versions for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and of course, the PC.
I’m sure the Simba report has some interesting information but if you can’t afford its $2,795 price tag, and you are interested in some e-book research, check out Stephen Windwalker’s Kindle Nation Winter 2010 Citizen Survey results. It is specific to Kindle but by most accounts, Kindle-formatted content represents 80% of the e-book content market. (Plus this report is free!)