Lesegewohnheiten

Many visitors to Lincoln Center as well as residents of Manhattan’s Upper West Side will be sorry to hear that the Barnes & Noble across from Lincoln Center is closing. Though the store was always busy, it seems that more people preferred to browse than to buy. Due to a rent increase you’ll soon be able to buy cheap clothing across from Lincoln Center (a 'Century 21' outlet reputedly will be moving in) instead of books. Perhaps a positive sign for the economy in general, if it means that landlords, at least, think the economic crisis is over.
Because I’m so occupied with e-books these days, however, I became immediately suspicious that this is a first sign that bookstores will be disappearing in the same way that CD stores did. Who still buys CDs when you can download them from the Internet? Though everyone listens to music just as they always have. And reading? Here, too, according to an analysis in the Wall Street Journal, there is apparently no reason for worry. People are reading more than ever. A study of 1,200 e-reader owners conducted by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. found that 40% said they now read more than they did with print books. E-readers, however, are still only a niche item that hasn’t yet captured even 4% of market share in the US. On top of which, it can naturally be assumed that people who buy an e-reader are not only technophiles but also bibliophiles. Those who already read will do even more so in the future.