Ghosts of Horatio Alger

I recently conducted a survey for a research project in which I sought to determine the demographics of Amazon Kindle Users. I found the results generally surprising, and I have drawn a number of conclusions based on these results. I will reserve my reactions in a later post and list, primarily, the data of what I found.

*A quick note on the actual method of this survey can be found after the results.

This survey found that 66% of respondents identified as female. As has been discussed a number of places, I too found that Kindle users skew older, with 69% over the age of 40.

Education

This survey found that Kindle users tend to have significant higher education. 72% of respondents had at least a 4 year college degree. Compiling that 72% were those with only a 4 year degree (35%), while 23% had a Masters Degree and 14% had a Doctoral or Professional (JD/MD) degree.

Income

The level of education, which has been found to correlate with income, did not show any significant variance. The income mode fell in the $100,000 – $150,000 range (14% of respondents), but was actually quite evenly distributed among the ranges.

Other demographic information that may be of use:

63% of respondents are Married

79% are white

46% live in the suburbs

20% live in the Mid West (and 17% in North East)

I also attempted to look at a few other factors I found interesting that may correlate with Kindle Usage. Among these I measured Computer usage, Internet usage, and print verse online newspaper use. I largely found the results interesting. Given the release of the large screen Kindle DX, I think it is important to look at the newspaper usage statistics more closely to gauge the potential this product does or does not have with a Kindle reading audience.

Computer/Internet Use

57% of respondents indicated that they spend 6 or more hours per day using a computer. 31% said the spend 3-5 hours per day on the computer. Comparatively, 35% spend 6 or more hours per day using the internet, while 42% indicated 3-5 hours per day. Those who suspect Kindle users are computer friendly and internet savvy could certainly point to these results as indications that they are on to something.

Newspaper Use

This study also found some differentiation in how Kindle users use newspapers. While 47% of respondents indicate they access online newspapers at least once per day, only 32% said they use a print newspaper once per day. 33% of respondents never use a print newspaper as oppose to 16% who never visit an online newspaper. 41% of respondents access blogs at least once per day, while 22% never use blogs.

I also measured how respondents used their Kindle. Was it for pleasure, work, or school? Did they largely access books or use the newspaper and blog functions as well? How many products have they purchased through their Kindle since purchasing the product? And what is their overall satisfaction with those products.

Finally I sought to determine which functions users liked and which functions needed improvement on the Kindle. I will post these findings in a separate post, as I do not want to overload each section and have the results get lost or confused.

*Measuring the demographics of a product that can only be purchased online is a tricky endeavor. You are very limited in a number of ways. Amazon has not released sales figures, so I decided to rely, mostly, on estimates from Citi Bank analyst Mark Mahaney to determine the population size. Because there is no physical location to visit and observe those who are purchasing the Kindle, I decided to scout out forums, blogs and social networks to find Kindle users. While there is no way to confirm that respondents were being honest in answering, I did limit the survey to accept only one submission per IP address to try to prevent the manipulation of the survey by a single or a few users.

The sample size of this survey was 442 respondents. The survey was left active for one week and I felt this number was sufficient to generate a simple random sample of a projected population of 500,000-700,000 Kindle users. If there are any lingering questions on the method of data collection please feel free to ask them in the commenting section or email me.

One project I have been working on recently is a study on the evolution of electronic books (e-books) leading up to Amazon’s Kindle Electronic Reading Device.  The study focuses on the Kindle as the most successful digital electronic book reader to date (an estimated 500,000 sold of version 1 – more than any single e-book reading device to date). This product represents the evolution of the e-book readers before it. The study will examine how the technology has evolved and where it may go in the future. To see where the product can go from here we have to understand who is using the product.  We need more information about who uses the Kindle.

To gauge who is using the Kindle and what these users like and dislike about the product I have created a survey. I do not want to divulge any more on my project, so as not to influence any potential respondents to the survey. If you are a Kindle user and would like to participate please click here to take survey.

I’ve done a lot of reading/research on the Kindle today. I’m uncomfortably interested in this product … which is driving me nuts since by very own Kindle is just sitting in my apartment building’s office in its box. Yup, that’s right. It’s just sitting there, not being experimented on, or read on, or being filled with lovely books and documents from various fields of study and interest.

I explicitly paid for expedited shipping so that I could have the Kindle by this weekend. I politely asked my landlord to sign for and place the box in my apartment – as I wouldn’t be home to receive it. And he kindly said he would. Except he didn’t. So now it’s sitting there. Until Monday. Alone and frightened. But enough complaining …

From my reading I came across some ideas and directions in which I can direct my research. From The Millions:

Looking at the Amazon option and the Google option, you can begin to see two separate, though not necessarily mutually exclusive paths that ebook evolution will follow. The Kindle path is one of verisimilitude with the printed page, a uni-tasker that wants to provide an experience as close to that of being a book as possible while using technology to improve upon the book by, for example, being lighter and letting you carry multiple titles in one small package.

This is probably the direction I will most likely point my survey. What are people looking for in an experience with a electronic book. Are they looking for “versimilitude with the printed page”? Are they simply looking for a digitized carbon copy of the experience they have always had? Or are do they not know what they want. Will it take a leap in an unexpected direction to move this technology forward?

Perhaps readers will adapt to the Kindle iPhone Application and we will find that readers really do not need a large book-like interface. They are content to continue with the micro-screened reading they have become accustomed to will phones, blackberries and (in the past) PDA’s. From John Siracusa’s revealing Arstechnica piece:

I honestly can’t remember the first e-book I read on its 160×160-pixel screen. Like I said, there was no blinding flash, no instant conversion. What happened instead is that I just put another e-book on it when I finished with the first. Because, again, what else was I going to do with it? (Yes, I know, it does other things!)
At a certain point, I realized I’d read my last five or six books on this thing. Without noticing, I’d gone off paper books entirely. Only then did I take the time to examine what had happened. Why was reading off of this tiny PDA not just tolerable, but (apparently) satisfying enough to keep me from returning to paper books.

Siracusa’s point, eventually, is the ” distinction between the device and the content.” That is, don’t necessarily look at the reader itself. That is simply a device. The content or eBook is what matters most. This is a product that has numerous advantages over the printed book (and yes, some deficiencies). The eBook is cheaper and easier to produce, replicate and store. It is quicker to aquire and, hopefully at some point, share. Speed, ease of use, and ubiquity are three very important qualities to the success of a product and the electronic book captures this.  I will end this post with another (extensive) quote from Siracusa:

If you remain unconvinced, here’s one final exercise, in the grand tradition of a particular family of Internet analogies. Take all of your arguments against the inevitability of e-books and substitute the word “horse” for “book” and the word “car” for “e-book.” Here are a few examples to whet your appetite for the (really) inevitable debate in the discussion section at the end of this article.

“Books will never go away.” True! Horses have not gone away either.

“Books have advantages over e-books that will never be overcome.” True! Horses can travel over rough terrain that no car can navigate. Paved roads don’t go everywhere, nor should they.

“Books provide sensory/sentimental/sensual experiences that e-books can’t match.” True! Cars just can’t match the experience of caring for and riding a horse: the smells, the textures, the sensations, the companionship with another living being.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Did you ride a horse to work today? I didn’t. I’m sure plenty of people swore they would never ride in or operate a “horseless carriage”—and they never did! And then they died.