Don't forget the dinosaurs!

[Petrushka]

Patterns are hard to predict though.Sales of physical books have proved very robust, even though the tech for ebooks is easy to use and well established, and prices for ebooks are often very cheap.
In particular, the physical book market , non fiction especially, has trended somewhat towards higher price and quality in recent years.

As far as it's possible to establish, is there any age co-relation between ebooks and physical books? On the face of it, you'd imagine that younger, tech-savvy people would be into ebooks in a big way but personal observation doesn't really bear this out. As I've got a big pile of physical books yet to be read, ebooks are a non-starter for me.

[teamsaint]

As far as it's possible to establish, is there any age co-relation between ebooks and physical books? On the face of it, you'd imagine that younger, tech-savvy people would be into ebooks in a big way but personal observation doesn't really bear this out. As I've got a big pile of physical books yet to be read, ebooks are a non-starter for me.

Here’s a useful graph, Pet, but it only shows a part of the picture.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/291800/age-distribution-of-e-book-downloaders-and-accessers-in-the-uk/

I’m pretty sure the big difference is not so much by age as by category. Fictionis is far more heavily skewed towards ebook than non fiction.
Our sales, ( all non fiction) which are probably pretty typical of the trade, tend to be about 80% physical, 20 % ebook. But promoted ebooks at £2.99 or less also make up a very large part of our ebook sales. On a new HB biography or History title, ebook sales will typically be only around 10%( very roughly) in the first year.

[Bryn]

Here’s a useful graph, Pet, but it only shows a part of the picture.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/291800/age-distribution-of-e-book-downloaders-and-accessers-in-the-uk/

I’m pretty sure the big difference is not so much by age as by category. Fictionis is far more heavily skewed towards ebook than non fiction.
Our sales, ( all non fiction) which are probably pretty typical of the trade, tend to be about 80% physical, 20 % ebook. But promoted ebooks at £2.99 or less also make up a very large part of our ebook sales. On a new HB biography or History title, ebook sales will typically be only around 10%( very roughly) in the first year.

Let's face it. Fiction is far more likely to be read serially than are non-fiction books.

[richardfinegold]

But how often will you play each recording - is it really worth spending the time on all that ripping?

Probably not, which is why I spend more time talking about it than actually doing it.

[richardfinegold]

In fact there is though, because while CDs are all digitised at 44.1kHz/16 bit, many newer recordings are available to stream/download at 96kHz/24 bit, and to my ears the increase in bit depth can make a noticeable difference.

Now you are discussing comparing high resolution versus bog standard red book CD. My original comments assumed using the same resolution recording

[richardfinegold]

Whilst I can't speak for performers (in particular those "up and coming") I get the sense that its a stage along their career exposure to have had a CD - or CDs - made; a physical product, even if it doesn't remain available for very long and then becomes a download.

The availability of booklets is a significant issue for me. Quite a lot of the time, for a recording leaving the catalogue before downloads were marketed, a download mostly doesn't come with a booklet. The differential between a lossless (FLAC) download and a used CD, with booklet, often isn't that large. (We need a repository for us users to contribute PDFs they make for those older recordings, which download sellers/buyers can then incorporate........(With a licence/copyright exemption))

I gave up reading CD inserts awhile ago because I kept misplacing the magnifying glass required to read them (actually, my grandson thinks the magnifiers are really cool and manages to go home with them secreted in his clothing when he comes for a visit-his parents tell me that he has quite a collection). That is one advantage of these mega box sets that come with real books

[Bryn]

I gave up reading CD inserts awhile ago because I kept misplacing the magnifying glass required to read them (actually, my grandson thinks the magnifiers are really cool and manages to go home with them secreted in his clothing when he comes for a visit-his parents tell me that he has quite a collection). That is one advantage of these mega box sets that come with real books

The pdf files that come with some downloads are also useful in this respect. Dead easy to zoom in to make them more readable. With some record companies, you can even download the booklet pdf without even purchasing the downloads. Likewise, a QOBUZ subscription gives access to downloads of such pdf files, when available.