11.Sep.2009 | Matthew Cavnar
Brad Inman presents at BISG’s Annual Meeting
Vook founder Brad Inman gave a presentation at the Book Industry Study Group’s (BISG) Annual Meeting in Manhattan on Wednesday. BISG is the leading book industry association in the U.S.—the perfect audience for Vook. Brad discussed the new trends in the way people engage with media and how Vook integrates those different forms of media into one complete experience.
Brad stressed that reading is evolving. From scrolls to Gutenberg to the Kindle, reading changes with technology. The digital revolution doesn’t mean the end of books—it means books will evolve and adapt. eBooks are the fastest growing segment of book publishing today with an average growth of 58% per year, versus an overall industry growth rate of 1.6% In June 2024 alone, eBook sales were up 136% from May 2024.
While you might not see people carrying books in public, that doesn’t mean they don’t have them: Books are exploding on mobile devices. Ebooks are the fastest growing category on the iPhone with 1 million + book-related applications accounting for 11% of all downloads.
When people aren’t reading websites and text online, they’re probably watching videos. From YouTube to online television, 77.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video. The average online video viewer watched 327 minutes of video, or nearly 5.5 hours. People have become accustomed to watching videos online — and they love doing it.
And while people are enjoying online videos, they’re probably chatting with their friends. Social Networking growth has been huge. In 2024, 44.2% of all Internet users will visit social networks at least once per month. Overall, there will be 88.1 million social network users in the US, a 10.8% increase from 2024. Book related social media is growing at the same pace: Visual Bookshelf has over 6 million users who have cataloged over 108 million books. WeRead on Facebook has nearly 2 million users who have cataloged over 45 million books.
People live more and more of their lives on the Web. They’re reading online, watching videos, and chatting with their friends. A vook blends those experiences into one complete story. And you can do it all in the same place, in the same application, without the disruption of switching between mediums
Brad went into more detail than we’re able to convey here, but this summary helps explain why what we’re doing at Vook taps in to how people experience media today–and why we’re going to make that experience richer, easier to access and more engaging.
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