Informal poll suggests nearly 70% of Kindle owners are over 40
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 1st 2009 3:51AM
posted May 1st 2009 3:51AM
There's already been some anecdotal evidence that the Kindle appeals to a slightly older set than your average newfangled gadget, and a new poll culled from responses on the Amazon forums is now shedding a bit more, if still not entirely scientific light on the matter. According to the Kindle Culture blog, the single largest group of Kindle users (broken down by decade) is folks in their 50s, with those in their 40s and 60s coming in second and third -- all of which adds up to nearly 50% of users being over 50, and close to 70% being over 40. Broken down into some broader demographics, that translates to adults 35-54 accounting for 38.4% of the user base, with older adults (over 54) representing a healthy 37.3%, while young adults (18-34) manage a mere 22%. Still looking for more numbers? Then hit up the link below for the complete breakdown, plus a bonus pie chart.
[Via Crave]
[Via Crave]
Well you have to have the money to burn
Damn kids these days, too busy myspacing and facebooking to read a book.
Get off my lawn!
Actually I just realized why younger groups don't buy the Kindle: lack of support for other ebook formats makes finding the torrent of the book or textbook you want more difficult. The only other ebook format Kindle supports is mobi/prc while the Sony Reader does a bunch of different formats PDF reflow as well.
You also have to enjoy reading more than 75 words at a stretch with no opportunity to leave a pithy/snarky/pretentious comment afterward.
Oh, wait...
I'm amazed by the fact that 5% of the users are teens and pre-teens. Some kids are lucky!
That explains why I own a Sony Reader PRS-505
which in my opinion is much, much, better...
I honestly dont think 'more mature' people really know how to do research online.
I agree. It seems the younger groups of people tend to like the sony more. I still don't know anyone in my age group (25-35) that owns any kindle version. I do, however, know 3 people that own one of the sony readers. It just seems to have more versatility in formats, cheaper price, and more custom software to make things easier for syncing/etc.
speaking from that 20-29 group- i did my research and picked the kindle because of "whisper net" i get all my content updated on the go- nytimes, wallstreet journal, and even blogs no matter where I am. (no wifi hunting). Thats a killer feature IMO- I haven't even hooked my kindle to my computer once yet.
Hey! 61 here and loving my Sony PRS-505. Love Calibre's free magazines and newspapers, and the fact that you can roll your own, even tweaking the scripts with Python. Of course, I had to have a young person point me to the computer thing and tell me that you don't pronounce USB.
I was surprised too, when I got my kindle 2 I went to the forums on amazon, and saw a thread that asked what age each person was. I'm 21 and out of all the 20 or so pages there were only about 18 people around my age and the rest where around 50 to 80 years old!
21 people over 80 have a Kindle? My nan can barely work her VCR, I dread to think what she'd be like with a Kindle.
When I was flying to NY last month a group of elderly ladies asked to look at my Kindle. Once I showed them the font can be increased and explained the Amazon store to them they said they all wanted to buy one now. They said books were getting harder to read due to the font sizes and the Kindle's ability to increase it was what they were looking for.
I don't understand how people can read a book on the Kindle, for me nothing can substitute a book in paper.
http://cyclisman.over-blog.com
Have you ever tried?
I love my Kindle. I forget it's an electronic device when I'm reading on it, and it sure is a lot lighter than trying to balance a hardcover for hours on end.
And 90% of those 70% are women watching Oprah religiously.
i represent the first age group (19) and i believe the kindle is not cost efficient to the younger generation. Old people have more health problems and therefore are more likely to want one of these. I don't mind carrying a book around in my backpack. (or reading an ebook on my laptop i found from torrents =P)
it's all about multi-functionality, and that's what the kindle lacks.
What the f*ck was all that sh*t you just tried to say?!
BigD145 sorry your small brain cant comprehend that
Yeah, seriously. An OLPC from eBay plus a shit-ton of ebooks from your favorite irc channel or torrent tracker offers a comparable reading experience (in terms of size, battery capacity and screen) but for much cheaper than the Kindle will ever be.
Whoa, Kindle makes you old? That's not cool...
People 40 and above, more disposable income.
Younger people, less interested to read.
Whoop dee doo. Slow news day?
Not to mention, people 40 and above (me)
Diminishing eyesight, so very glad of the ability to use a bigger font.
Less time spent going out clubbing and other similar stuff, so more time for reading to unwind after a hard day.
Not every gadget has to be aimed at you young whipper-snappers.
Oh.. and GET OFF MY LAWN!
Yeah I think you are right. There are a few things going on here, one, people in my age group (I'm 26) don't read much anymore, two, none of them have enough money to buy a Kindle. Personally I still prefer books, I have some historic ones, for example, that will never be on a Kindle and I just like the idea of having a physical library, which is rather large at this point. So maybe I'm in a weird group of my own that's young and likes reading (99.9% history books), likes physical books and has enough money to buy a Kindle, but doesn't want one.
I guess it's because reading predates electronic gadgets as a train/plane/car/bus entertainment if you were born long enough ago.
So the habit of reading books was already there, there just wasn't a gadget for it.
Mp3 players, handheld consoles, etc are forms of entertainment that are 'new' for older people, but has existed for a much larger proportion of the lives of younger people (Game Boy came out the year after I was born, for example).
Therefore, for younger people there was an equal playing field growing up between books and other things.
For older people, books have the advantage, because that's what those people are used to. No point changing your habits to watching films or playing DS when you're happy reading a book on the bus.
But the kindle takes aim specifically at those people: they finally have a gadget that doesn't require them to change their habits in order to enjoy it.
Obviously I'm generalising - almost everyone reads stuff while commuting, even if it's just a free paper.
Psychologically though, I think the kindle has an appeal to people for whom reading is the assumed primary form of entertainment when travelling.
I think the biggest reason is that the younger generations (well, the few people in the younger generations who read) are used to using LCDs for that sort of thing, so they're entirely fine with using just the iPhone Stanza or Kindle app or whatever to do it.
People younger than 30 prefer convergence devices, and people over 70 just have no interest in technology at all. Makes sense to me.
Exactly.
Kindle is a waste of time IMO.
I"ve seen a lot of older people with Kindles (and other e-readers), so I believe the poll. I think it has to do with two factors: it's just easier on the eyes if you're getting older, and it's an easier-to-use system than other e-readers. More realistically, for commuters, they do spend a lot of time reading, and this is one gadget that improves the experience for them. And far most commuters commute for work, and thus the age shift.
And the older you get, 1) the more stuff you've accumulated, and 2) the less you like having all that stuff (you greatly prefer a simpler life).
This drive to avoid more shelves of books is no different from the reason why people digitize any other forms of paper.
@joe
It's more like, older, working commuters people can justify the purchase because:
1. it greatly improves the experience, and beats hauling a bunch of paper to and from work, no need to use bookmarks, flip pages, etc when you're crammed in the subway etc.
2. they can afford it
3. they actually get a lot of use out of it.
Clutter is probably a consideration but unless you live in a 1BR in Manhattan, it's not that bad. Personally I give away a lot of the books I own once I realized I'll never have a use for them again.
not many people read anyway that's the real shame
* 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school
* 42% of college graduates never read another book
* 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
* 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years
* 57% of new books are not read to completion.
* Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.
>70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years
That number is going to keep going up unless you count Amazon as going to a book store. With the Prime program I get free 2-day shipping so why would I go anywhere else for books?
I admit that I only use my Kindle when traveling--most of my reading is technical books where charts, graphs, and tables are necessary. The Sony fans don't seem to get it--Kindle readers want the latest books and bestsellers, not public domain or whatever happens to be on a torrent. When someone other than Amazon has a larger breadth of books then I'll consider it.
Sorry, really don't see how that's surprising at all. It's effin expensive for what it is, however sweet it may be.
I think there's no doubt that both cost and intergenerational differences in reading behavior contribute to this phenomenon. The Kindle is expensive for what it offers: virtual books, especially best sellers, that you can't sell, lend, or trade. On the other hand, one of the often referenced characterizations of "Generation Y" is that they don't read that many books. Young people "prefer convergence devices" because they like being electronically connected to each other and other sources of information. It's not like young people are buying up used books by the dozen and going to local book clubs or the library in large numbers.
I think Jeff Bezos probably personifies the typical Kindle reader: 40s to early 50s, white, and nerdy (like that Weird Al Yankovik song, "White and Nerdy"). Someone who has a job for which they travel frequently or who has time to kill waiting for stupid corporate meetings or who can bill people for pretending to do work. Someone who got an iPod maybe a few years ago. Instead of relying on airport bookstores, hotel gift shops, and the occasional Border's, they can get a much larger selection of text material almost instantly on the Kindle.
I fly a few times per week and have noticed a ton of grey haired frequent fliers with Kindles. Sometimes in the "preferred rows" on the shuttle you'll see as many as 3 out of 4 people have them.
I think everyone misses the point here. Can you say presbyopia?
I'm 38, and my eyes are myopic, not presbyopic (not yet, anyway. Hopefully I have a few years to go before I have to fit myself for bifocals.)
And yes, I have a Kindle 2.
I like it better than the Sony PRS-505 because it has Whispernet, web access, text-to-speech, and still costs about the same as the Sony. It can handle any file the Sony can handle, except that I have to convert some of them with Calibre before transferring to the Kindle (The Sony doesn't display PDFs natively, either. It converts them before displaying them.) If I wanted to I could load software on my Kindle that would do the conversion on-the-fly, but I'm happier doing it in Calibre and managing all my books like I do my music.
My myopia doesn't really have anything to do with my having a Kindle 2. I still have to wear my glasses when I'm reading, and I don't make the font size any bigger than it would be in a regular hardcover novel. I'm not quite in the LARGE PRINT club yet.
Anyway, I'm under 40 (barely) and I love my Kindle, however, I do find that a lot of Kindle owners I meet online seem to be women in their 40s and 50s. The only other Kindle owner I know personally is a woman in her 40s.
And my theory: Why do younger people want the Sony? Because they think it's more friendly to pirated books and media than the Kindle. (It's not any more or less file-compatible, actually).
@ZeroCorpse,
Glad you like your Kindle 2. But the Sony *does* handle PDF reflow natively (just Google "Sony Reader native PDF").
And as to your theory of why younger people like the Sony, you may be right. But it may also be because Calibre .mobi support only happened within the last month or two. So up until that time, tech-savvy young people could do more with the Sony than with the Kindle (like get free magazines and newspapers).
@ZeroCorpse
Sony's reader can handle more than the Kindle when it comes to PDF, for example it supports Chinese and Japanese.
Um, you mean people under forty can still read?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I think thats just the demographic of the kind of people that post on the damn discussion board all the time. I bet there are more people who don't read the stupid forums that have one. They also have a lot of free housewife porn books for sale, so maybe that helps.
Ugh, I hate that board. You would think everyone there is Amish and has no understanding of technology or the internet.
Plus they talk constantly about their tacky Kindle covers. "Look at the purple fairy cover I bought for Francesca to wear!" Oh yeah, and they name the damn things and refer to them like people.
WEIRD.
I like my Kindle but come on....
Right...what strikes me is not the age demographic but the gender demographics...everyone seems to be 40+ women. Look at the stats on the most popular Kindle books, all bodice-ripping romance stuff.
I'm 30. I love my kindle 2. I didn't buy the original version, looked a little too frumpy to me, but this second edition and the goal of indexing everything on Amazon drew me to it. Whispernet is amazing. I really didnt see what the point of it at first was, you can always just sync it right? But having it now, and being able to get today's paper on the go, without wi-fi, or a computer is a huge plus. This thing is great and get's looks and questions everywhere. Now, as soon as flight attendants will stop looking at me with disdain everytime I use it.....
I'm 22 and I read incessantly so I bought my Kindle 2 day one. Will pick up Kindle 3/student edition as well as soon as it comes out :)
Given that this is an electronification of a more traditional format, this is not surprising. I think fewer younger folks read just to read. Heck, I didn't until a few years ago.
I don't think that this is news. Amazon has always said that their target market was business travelers.
Its an expensive device. Only really useful for people who would otherwise be carrying around multiple hardcover books and stacks of magazines. But if your scenario is that you travel regularly and try to go with only your briefcase and sometimes a piece of carry on luggage, then the Kindle can make sense.
I am old. I love technology. I have a Kindle.
RIght now, I am reading a book I got for free from Gutenberg.org in mobi format.
Mobi format is compatible with the Kindle. It is a book on Stoic ideas of Marcus Aurelius.
The Kindle and Gutenberg are great for reading classics for FREE!!!!
Gutenberg has loads of Joseph Conrad.
If younger people don't read, they will have crappy jobs, and the younger folk who do read will be their corporate masters.
Not surprised... you just don't hear much about the Kindle. I am rapidly approaching their target market though... maybe I should invest in a Kindle.
This doesn't surprise me. Pleasure reading is a dying hobby. Kids are more likely to get information and entertainment through electronic devices (TV's, game systems, etc.) and the internet.