Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Despitie economic downturn across the globe, Europe sees spike in reading

The New York Times recently reported that despite the economy ruining other print media, such as newspapers, periodicals, and magazines, book sales are increasing around Europe.

In France, rose 2 percent in December from the amount of books sold the year before.  In January, it had increased by 2.4 percent.

Germany showed a 2.3 percent increase in January.

While Britain and America have shown a slight decline (about less than a percent), in comparison to the sharp decline of the other print media it is still showing that it is holding its own.

Commentators have said that with unemployed people having an increased 'leisure time' and decreased funds reading provides a cheap entertainment.

I think this was a pretty fun article by the New York Times, and I thought it was rather interesting that reading is still on the rise.  The article also discussed how e-readers, such as Amazon's Kindle, have not affected the traditional book industry.  I believe that books, if nothing else, will continue to thrive in the future.  However, I do see the Kindle as being a complement to the print industry but nothing more.

What do you all think?  Will the digital age continue spreading to the print media?  Will books soon become obsolete?

6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. It is really good to know that people are reading more. Thank goodness the U.S. is holding its own. Other countries will always try to keep up with the U. S.. But, over all its good to know that people around the world are reading.

    Very interesting article, and I agree that books will continue to thrive in the future.

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  3. Let's hope America realizes that we cannot let books and literature become extinct. Internet news and videos will never have the intimacy that one gets from a good paper story, you just get lost in it, where as the the internet keeps you distracted with pop-up advertisments, and virus scans. I hope that when this economy improves and the unemployment rate drops, people still continue to read on their lunch breaks or before bed, rather than surfing the web as much. Good post.

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  4. I actually am surprised that the U.S. had only a slight decline in regards to reading print media. The reason I say I am surprised is because we are a technology driven society and we are so obsessed with the internet and computers. But I actually am glad to see that reading is once again on the rise. Reading a book takes you into a different world that computers cant take you to. Very interesting story and very interesting post.

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  5. I think it's great that reading is on the rise. It doesn't surprise me in the least that the reading rate is down in America. Video games and films are actually on the rise. People don't really know how to entertain themselves anymore. We look for ways to be entertained.

    I really can't imagine the day when print media no longer exists; that to me would be blasphemy.

    As far as Kindle goes, I wonder what would happen if technology crashed on a massive scale in the course of one day.

    Well, that's off topic.

    Great post. Keep writing.

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  6. I'm glad to see the country picking up a book. It shows there is still hope for the people who always read. Technology is a fast, moving development and the need for books is diminishing. I love to read, and I'd much rather have a book to read than an online source.

    Video games, online sites and movies are catching awareness faster than books, and I'd hate to see books become something harder to attain.

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