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Kindle Books Outsell Physical Ones, Printing Presses Weep

by Matthew Zuras on December 28, 2009 at 02:40 PM

Readers, we had our doubts. Sure, we've been covering the Kindle (and its e-reader spawn) ever since it first debuted, but the paper apologists among us didn't foresee the pixel trumping the pulp any time soon. Yet on Christmas Day, it happened: Amazon sold more Kindle books than physical ones. Ring the death knell for the printing press.

We can imagine that the majority of these digitally downloaded texts were the result of excited new Kindle owners purchasing the latest James Patterson collection of thriller novels. But this is important for Amazon in several respects: they were able to make sales on a day when nearly every brick-and-mortar retailer was closed, and those sales were composed of the written word. Conclusion: People are still reading!

Amazon hasn't quite figured out a profitable pricing model for Kindle titles just yet. Battling higher wholesale prices from publishers, Amazon ends up eating about $1 per Kindle book sold. But the obvious popularity of digital book downloads, if Amazon can keep this momentum, will force publishers to rethink their price points.

Some of us will continue to collect printed matter until the Rapture, but things seem to be looking bright for the future of the e-reader. Are you in favor of digital books replacing paper? Can, or will, the two learn to peacefully coexist? [From: The Business Insider]

Tags: amazon, christmas, death of print, DeathOfPrint, e-reader, ereader, hgg, kindle, kindle 2, Kindle2, top

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