[SteveC]

Meanwhile, Jobs also weighed in on other recent industry developments, like Amazon's new $400 Kindle eBook reader, which he believes is destine for failure. "It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore."

AppleInsider

This statement is so blazingly dumb, that I am not sure it needs an explanation. First, Amazon exists because people read books. Two, college students read lots of books, allegedly a key Apple demographic. Third, civilization depends on people reading and thinking, not watching music videos and playing computer games.

Maybe he should have said, "I'm too busy to read, because I have been building a dog called MacBook Air, and anything outside my little universe I am too dumb to understand." The Kindle may be green and overpriced, but it is based on giving people only the content that they want. The iPhone tries to mimic this approach to information. Kindle probably has as better chance for longevity than web-based advertising. Apple may have a great advertising department, but content will always be valued more highly than advertising.

I didn't realize that when Apple dropped the word "computer" from their name that their expectation was the world is full of mindless morons who will purchase anything, and that they are only only capable of receiving video and audio content from the iTunes store. Sit down, shut up, consume and obey.

Do you know who he sounds like? This guy. Anything can be a fact if you want it to be. What's next, WMD in Iraq?



Am I over-reacting? I cannot think of a dumber statement that I have ever heard anyone say, ever.

[709]

Originally Posted by SteveC Am I over-reacting?

Compared to your other posts/threads, or just in general?

What's next, WMD in Iraq?

Hmm....

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by SteveC Am I over-reacting? I cannot think of a dumber statement that I have ever heard anyone say, ever.

You're not looking hard enough. Why, just here today, in the MacBook Air thread, I saw some pretty dumb statements thrown about.

[kieran]

Steve was just saying that people, in general, don't read for pleasure anymore.

And it's true.

[jcoley2]

Originally Posted by SteveC First, Amazon exists because people read books.

Not exactly--Amazon has moved to a more diversified business model and really is a full service retailer. This is from their Oct 2007 quarterly report:

Amazon.com, which doesn't give details on specific categories, said sales of electronics, jewelry, furniture and other general merchandise climbed to $1.08 billion. Books, DVDs and other media sales increased 36 percent to $2.09 billion, helped by sales of the final Harry Potter book.

Given that quarterly revenue was $3.26B, that means Books, DVDs and Media was 64% of their total revenue. I am guessing book sales, therefore, were well south of 50%. And that was a big quarter due to Harry Potter release.

Originally Posted by SteveC Two, college students read lots of books, allegedly a key Apple demographic.

Not true. . . they don't read anything but text books and younger adults also tend not to read. Here is a good link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20381678/

Note: One in four adults read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and older people were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year — half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn’t read any, the usual number read was seven.

This is not Apple's target audience. I am sure this is why we have not seen a Reader from Apple.

Originally Posted by SteveC Third, civilization depends on people reading and thinking, not watching music videos and playing computer games.

Partly agree, but Western Civilization IMHO depends on information to be free and unbiased. That used to be newspapers and radio, then TV and now it is WWW. Most adults do not have the time or patients to read books, unfortunately. I think Jobs is right in that we have moved to a "sound bite" society, unfortunately.

[colivigan]

Originally Posted by kieran23kk Steve was just saying that people, in general, don't read for pleasure anymore. And it's true.

Hmm, be careful with your generalizations. Maybe it's true for you, for Steve's target demographic, and for the majority of Phillies fans (sorry, couldn't resist ), but there are still plenty of book readers out there.

I'm sure Steve didn't just pull that 40% statistic out of his ass, but to say that people don't read books for pleasure any more is simply not true. I certainly do, my friends do, my wife and kids do. True, we do spend more time reading things like blogs and brain-sucking internet forums than we used to, at the expense of traditional printed media. But we certainly haven't abandoned real books entirely.

But I think he's right about the Kindle. I don't want one at all.

[tomoe]

Originally Posted by kieran23kk Steve was just saying that people, in general, don't read for pleasure anymore. And it's true.

That's the one thing I've found I love about riding the train everyday--I get to read for pleasure that I normally would not get to do were I driving a car or bicycling. Works out for the better...get to finish roughly a novel every 10 days.

[scratt]

Originally Posted by SteveC Am I over-reacting?

Yes.

Originally Posted by SteveC I cannot think of a dumber statement that I have ever heard anyone say, ever.

No comment.

[apple007]

Originally Posted by tomoe That's the one thing I've found I love about riding the train everyday--I get to read for pleasure that I normally would not get to do were I driving a car or bicycling. Works out for the better...get to finish roughly a novel every 10 days.

This is actually something I'm hoping to accomplish a lot more of in '08. After a few projects are done (a general clean-up of email, bookmarks, etc.; revamped work and personal sites, etc.), I'm hoping to limit my in-front-of-the-computer time to about 2 hours per day. Otherwise, I can handle email on the fly, and visit web sites as necessary, with my iPhone.

The biggest challenge will be prioritizing my absurdly long Amazon.com books-to-read list.

[drewprops]

all of this was too long... what's this thread about??

[LudwigVan]

Originally Posted by SteveC I cannot think of a dumber statement that I have ever heard anyone say, ever.

Anybody have a copy of this?

[morningstarrising]

Reading to go Completely Online"-Bill Gates

"Reading is going to go completely online. We believe that as we get the smaller form factor, the screen has gotten good enough. Why is reading online better? It's up to date, you can navigate, you can follow links. The ads in the online reading are completely targeted as opposed to just being run-of-print, where many of the readers will find them completely irrelevant. The ads can be in new and richer formats.

Guess Billy got to Stevie....

[Yonzie]

Typical Gates... "ads [...] ads [...] ads"

On topic, 15 years ago, i was ravenous for books. Then the computer sucked out my brain. I'm trying kinda the same stunt as apple007, spending less time on useless internet forums and crap news sites.

[morningstarrising]

Originally Posted by Yonzie Typical Gates... "ads [...] ads [...] ads" On topic, 15 years ago, i was ravenous for books. Then the computer sucked out my brain. I'm trying kinda the same stunt as apple007, spending less time on useless internet forums and crap news sites.

HEY HEY HEY..some of us make money off of this

[apple007]

Originally Posted by Yonzie On topic, 15 years ago, i was ravenous for books. Then the computer sucked out my brain. I'm trying kinda the same stunt as apple007, spending less time on useless internet forums and crap news sites.

Let me know if you find a good support group. After a 10-year 'net habit, I'm sure the withdrawal will be nasty for me.

[scratt]

On dumb Steve comments.. Did anyone see the fan girl picture request article..

I loved one of the comments on Digg...

"LEAVE STEVE ALONE!"
(Re: The Britney wierdo fanboi video - for those that don't get it).

But to be frank about this perhaps Steve was referring to her web site.
http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchi...hat_happe.html

[kieran]

Originally Posted by UncleJohn Hmm, be careful with your generalizations. Maybe it's true for you, for Steve's target demographic, and for the majority of Phillies fans (sorry, couldn't resist ), but there are still plenty of book readers out there..

haha. Low blow about Phillies fans.

I didn't say that I agree that people aren't reading at all, it's just not as much. There are so many other things in people's lives to take away that time that used to be for reading.

I personally try to read 5-10 books a year. That's not a lot for what I'm capable of reading, but I have a lot of things to do with not a whole lot of down time. If I can meet that, I'm happy with myself.

Other people need to read more. The world would be a better place.

[ronmexico]

I don't think Steve's comments were completely out of left field. I just don't think people want a separate device for their books. I would rather have it all on my laptop.

Quite frankly, books are annoying. They are heavy, take up a lot of space, and are difficult to carry around. When I was in college, I remember taking 3 textbooks, and 1 or 2 recreational books on planes when I went home on break. That shit was heavy! My attic's flooring can't support all of the hard backs and paper backs I have up there. I built special bookshelves that I hang from support beams to keep the weight off the floor. I would much prefer to have them on a computer.

I think people would be much more inclined to read when it becomes a bit more ergonomic. Just a thought...

[scratt]

Originally Posted by ronmexico I think people would be much more inclined to read when it becomes a bit more ergonomic. Just a thought...

I think 'more ergonomic' in the real world with most people means on a glowing screen with pictures, and surround sound these days! Why read the book when you can get a hopelessly slashed, altered and condensed version on a DVD!

I actually read more than I ever did these days.. But it's all web pages and articles online etc.
I love books, and still love taking one on a plane, to the beach, but have less and less time to do that.. So much so that I have a pile of books which I take one off each time I am lucky enough to be locked away from the real world for a few hours on a plane. As soon as internet is available in the air I'll probably stop doing that too, because I am weak and sad.

And if I ever do buy an eBook, it will be one with internet access and writing capabilities.. So I'll probably never get round to putting a book on it!

[GOLDFRAPP]

2op
not anymore but definitely much less

ps
students read what? textbooks? or books that are part of curricula?

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by ronmexico I don't think Steve's comments were completely out of left field. I just don't think people want a separate device for their books. I would rather have it all on my laptop. Quite frankly, books are annoying. They are heavy, take up a lot of space, and are difficult to carry around. When I was in college, I remember taking 3 textbooks, and 1 or 2 recreational books on planes when I went home on break. That shit was heavy! My attic's flooring can't support all of the hard backs and paper backs I have up there. I built special bookshelves that I hang from support beams to keep the weight off the floor. I would much prefer to have them on a computer. I think people would be much more inclined to read when it becomes a bit more ergonomic. Just a thought...

Your post shows why the Kindle would have a market. While there is a lot of overlap between a Kindle and a laptop, there is a lot of overlap between an iPhone and an iPod, too. There is no reason that both devices can't survive in different markets. The bookstore could fill your Kindle, for example.

If my statement is too harsh, it is only because MAYBE Steve was thinking about the marketspace for a book reader. I have read a lot of books on my computer for free. If anything, I read considerably more than I ever did before, and I request books from the library routinely as well, thanks to their on-line database.

Both Amazon and Apple's business model is based on continuing the archaic model of speech being a commercial property. Because Amazon is reselling both new and used goods, they are pretty safe as gate-keeper. If the Kindle fails it will be because manufacturing is too far outside of their strengths. Apple should be making it, not Amazon. Similarly, if Apple fails, it will be because of too much reliance on being a gate-keeper for commercialized speech, rather than manufacturing goods.

In an odd way, Apple (hardware) and Amazon (soft goods) are opposites of one another, and they are both moving toward the others' model. (Not unlike Starbucks selling music and stuffed animals as a retailer, instead of being a restaurant.) When companies diversify they get bigger and stronger temporarily, but eventually the increased overhead increases their exposure, and it becomes a burden. (The boom in the financial services is now a bust, for example, with many bank employees losing their jobs, etc.)

While the Kindle may be a Newton for Amazon, computers will probably become more book-like (like the MacBook Air indicates.) But separate from the success of Kindle, people will be reading books for a long time to come. How many will always depend on their particular lifestyle at a particular age.

....and I just requested 1001 Dumbest Things Ever Said from the library. (good one LudwigVan!) Thank God for libraries. If Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos were in charge of the world, they would close them down. Afterall, people don't read books anymore, and sharing is stealing. :-)

edit: looking over what Jobs said: ""It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore," he said." Hardware, or the weight of books, or technology has no bearing on the experience at all. This really has to be the dumbest statement ever made, but I will check out the other 1001 and report back (even though it requires reading a book.) :-)

[chucker]

Originally Posted by SteveC Am I over-reacting? I cannot think of a dumber statement that I have ever heard anyone say, ever.

You can dislike the statement all you want; it's nonetheless accurate.

[sunrain]

Originally Posted by SteveC Am I over-reacting? I cannot think of a dumber statement that I have ever heard anyone say, ever.

No, not at all. I'm confident you were smart about this and didn't base your opinion solely on anecdotal experience.

"It's something that librarians have known for decades."

Librarians Respond to Decline in Reading

Definitely... not.

"These trends are concurrent with a falloff in daily pleasure reading among young people as they progress from elementary to high school, a drop that appears to continue once they enter college." (emphasis mine)

NEA Study Links Drop in Test Scores to a Decline in Time Spent Reading

Er, wait. By no and not, I mean yes and definitely.

[JohnnyTheA]

Maybe Steve is copying me -> http://forums.applenova.com/showthre...280#post523280

I think Steve is kind of right. To have a product focused only on text is kind of limiting. But I bet Steve is watching closely. If the Kindle really takes hold, Apple could easily come out with a tablet product that does everything the kindle does AND is a mac.

I JUST got back from travel and realized I left a paperback in my hotel room. Oh well, its only $ 6.95. Good thing it wasn't a kindle.

JTA

[SteveC]

"Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year"

which means that 60% of the people read more than one book last year.

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

I agree that the Kindle is overpriced, DRM is bad, etc., and it will have a tough time surviving, but only because it isn't done right (kinda like MacBook Air) but the potential for it to be something great is there. The demand is there.

Apple (Steve Jobs) has a habit of always being a step or two behind. Listen to music and burn CD's on your computer? Why would anybody want to do that? Now he acts like he invented the concept. Use typefaces? Why would anybody want more than 30 or so? Yet Chartpak and Letraset were selling thousands of typefaces as transfer type for artists. Adobe knew where the market was, not Apple. (I sold one of the first graphics programs before the MacIntosh came out.) How long did it take to flip the logo over on the laptops? Apple's perpetual boasting is in an attempt to cover up its stupidity. (I think Steve Jobs has a self-esteem problem, unfortunately.)

Kindle's challenge is that you can get books on your laptop from places like VitalSource The Kindle may be redundant, but people are going to be reading.

If you visit vitalsource, there are a number of books that you can download for free. The software is done very well.

If you want to get a sense of how much the world has changed, and in a very short time, read The Young Fur Traders. My favorite line has nothing to do with the narrative, but reveals how screwed up we have become, and why planes fly into "trade" centers.

Red River differs from most colonies in more respects than one—the chief differences being, that whereas other colonies cluster on the sea-coast, this one lies many hundreds of miles in the interior of the country, and is surrounded by a wilderness; and while other colonies, acting on the Golden Rule, export their produce in return for goods imported, this of Red River imports a large quantity, and exports nothing, or next to nothing. (Ballantyne, R. M. . The Young Fur Traders. Hayes Barton Press, 1856. 2). <vbk:L-999-74280#outline(2)>

People think the Golden Rule is a quaint relic, but without it we have nothing.

Books are a mirror of ourselves. People will never stop reading, because we will never stop looking in the mirror.

[feidhlim1986]

$400 for an eBook reader is pretty stupid i think. I also think most people would prefer the actual book to read. I'd find it hard on my eyes to read a small LCD screen to read a book

[Chris A]

I have seen and explored Kindle--it is Apple great and I suspect that is why Steve is not as enthused as he ought to be. Once the price is made reasonable, I think Kindle will do very well. I also think Steve will think about incorporating its functions into future Apple product. In other words, I sense an envy of sorts.

[Taskiss]

The publishers would need to offer their products for half price in the Kindle format before I'd buy one. I'll take a real book over a screen representation of a real book any day. I'm not going to pay for the privilege to read a book I paid full price for.

I loved the Digital Corp. VAX Management document set. Everything you wanted to know, complete info for every task, and duplication of information when it was logically appropriate.

It took a whole freaking 6' table to set it up on, but that's OK.

[Phoenix]

I don't like the idea of a book reader much at all. I like to physically turn the pages of any book i read. There are a number of reasons why but i won't get into that. I just don't think in its current form, an ebook reader will be a nice way to read. I hope someone figures out a way to make it a better experience. If i could take all of my books with me wherever i went, and it be a similar experience as reading an actual book, then i would happily pay $400 to do so.

[Doxxic]

I think Jobs should be better informed than it seems, because it would be only a small effort for Apple to check if there is any demand for a book reader for iPod and iPhone.

It would come as no surprise to me if in such a case the demand for book reading turned out to be marginal enough compared to the demand for video and music, to state that people indeed "don't read anymore".