Recent release of IPad from Apple has been a phenomenon. College students over nations are preparing for the next year, buying different books needed. Like previous years, students will once again swarm into bookstores to purchase materials for courses taken next year. University bookstores are bigger businesses than we think they are. However, as electronic versions of books are being distributed through gadgets like the IPad, bookstore businesses might become a business that existed in the past. The college bookstores are also wary of this fact that new gadgets are possibly diminishing their number of sales. According to a study, last year, 51% of students bought their textbooks at campus booksellers while 18% of the students acquired the book in an electronic version. Opposite to bookstores, sales rates in ebookstores are tremendously increasing by year. E-book sales only accounted for 2~3% of the total sales but last year, it increased to 10~ 15%. Although it is unfortunate for college bookstores, it seems like the future of book sales will most likely change.
With the new release of iPad and new technologies of online books, I have to say, the book market has changed a lot in the last few years. The fact that sales of college bookstores are decreasing will continue to do so until most of the books will be in electronic versions. Although reading books in electronic screens may not be pleasant for some people, it is a good transition if you think about the trees that are being killed when books are made. Will bookstores be a thing of the past? It might be. With crises of saving nature becoming a bigger topic, selling electronic versions of books might be encouraged by environmental groups. On a period of new beginning of e-book sales, I guess it only remains to wait and see what happens to the book markets in the future.
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