Don’t miss the eReader revolution

Speaking of WealthIf you call yourself a publisher of any kind of digital information and you don’t have your attention on Kindle…well…you probably didn’t think that Internet thing was going to hit so big either, did you? Seriously, pay attention to the eReader market. It’s about to go crazy and you don’t want to be left standing on the outside.

Here’s something to think about. For the past decade, we’ve been hearing alternating stories – some singing the praises of digital publishing and others claiming that ebooks will never catch on. Here’s what is happening. The pace of eReader sales is picking up quickly. Three million were sold in 2009 and many experts predict upwards of 10 million for 2010. That’s a big jump, people. Pretty stiff increase for an emerging medium.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Right now, Amazon’s Kindle has about a 60% market share. That’s a fairly sizable lead on the competition. What this means is that if you are publishing anything in digital format, you better make sure it’s compatible with Kindle. Books, newspapers, magazines, even blogs can be read on this eReader.

And we won’t pretend Kindle is the only game in town. It’s not, and if the digital revolution has taught us anything, it’s that behemoths can be slain. Ten years ago who expected a little company called Google to become the world’s search engine? Not many. The point here is that whether it’s the Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, or Amazon’s Kindle, make your digital information compatible with as many as possible.

Get ready for the eReader revolution no matter who wins.

The Speaking of Wealth Team

Speaking of Wealth

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