New Figures From Pew Show Tablets Outpaced by E-Readers

Well, here’s another trend for me to buck, just in time for the holiday weekend. It seems that demand for e-readers seems to be taking off far more rapidly than the tablet market, according to new figures released this week by the Pew Research Center.

[WP_IMAGE]

I’m not surprised by this, if only because e-readers have been with us for more than a couple of years, and because the cost for a Nook or a Kindle is much lower than that for the least capable iPad.

But this is one bandwagon that I’m going to let roll right past me. I’ve tried the concept of the e-reader – most recently with Apple’s iBooks on both the iPhone and iPad, and I can see why some people think that e-readers are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

That said, any device I schlep around has to have one of two attributes: it has to be totally innocuous – like the iPod shuffle – or I want it to perform multiple functions. Given the screen size, whatever I use for an e-reader has to do more for me than simply host an e-book; I’m all about the Leatherman model – or Swiss Army knife, if you prefer – where all of my tools are in one place.

There’s another thing at work here. I’m not just a dinosaur; I’m a bibliomanic one.

I have hundreds of books in my house, and I always have my eye out for more. I didn’t stop buying physical media when I began using an MP3 player, and I’m not going to buy an e-book when I can get a real one. I like the heft of a book, rather than that of an e-reader.

So, count me out if this revolution, if that’s what it is.