Since the advent of the internet, magazine publishers and newspapers have experienced significant declines in readership. At the same time, traditional books have done quite well. In fact, a recent report has revealed that fiction readers are increasing for the first time in twenty-five years. There are several reasonable explanations for this unexpected turnaround. But the one that we will investigate in this brief article is the use of new technologies. That's right! Fiction has actually found a way to take advantage of new technology. This might sound a bit like heresay. After all, traditional books of ink and paper have been popular since the advent of the printing press without complaint. But at least one major bookseller thought it was time for a change. When Amazon.com introduced the first electronic reader in 2007, they were uncertain how the public would respond to the new device. If you have never used one, electronic readers were designed to download and store books from the internet. They are fast, efficient, and downloads are only about half the cost of traditional books. Still, the company was stunned when sales doubled in year two and tripled in year three. Estimates in 2010 are even more impressive at an amazing 12 million units. Though many disagree as to the source of this success, most industry insiders have noted that younger readers grew up with electronic media and as a result they actually prefer it to traditional books.
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