In fact, with the
rate of ebook adoption slowing many observers suggest the numbers indicate we're reaching a plateau.
The slow growth
of ebook adoption in school libraries is attributed to limited access to ereading devices and cost of ebooks, according to the report, released in October 2014 and sponsored by Follett.
I hadn't thought of that in
terms of ebook adoption and how it could benefit or be hindered by our associations with books, but it makes sense.
Refusal to simplify pricing models, and refusal to inter-operate among e-readers and lending systems, means that libraries will simply opt
out of ebook adoption entirely — something they can't afford to do if they're going to stay relevant in the future.
Polling participants about the practices of young children, teens, and adults, with 823 adults and 221 teens responding, BookNet Canada discovered some telling things about the perceived
state of ebook adoption.
We lost fictionwise, we lost booksonboard, we lost Diesel books, we lost even Sony, and we lost who knows how many potential startups who, right at the
peak of ebook adoption, the time to forge long term consumer relationships, they were handcuffed and prevented from doing loyalty programs, micropayment rebates, book bundles, bogo deals, and all sorts of modern marketting techniques.
At its current
rate of ebook adoption, StarWalk plans to have as many as 400 titles in its catalog by the end of the current school year.