Okay, so far today we know senior citizens are reading comics, millennials are using Wi-Fi to have human contact…but WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?????
Well according to a Scholastic study, they are reading things on handheld devices We’ll just jump ahead to the nut graph:
Many children want to read books on digital devices and would read for fun more frequently if they could obtain e-books. But even if they had that access, two-thirds of them would not want to give up their traditional print books.
You see? Kids are going to be BILINGUAL in the future.
Why, just a few posts ago we were saying how important reliable demographic information is and here is Scholastic Books, which surely has a stake in finding out whether kids are jut going to toss their paper-based texts out in the trash, trying to decide whether they need to abandon ship or their jobs have a future.
The survey — which you can download here — looked at 1,045 children age 6–17 and their parents and focused on kids’ attitudes towards reading in an era where they are turning their brains to total neuron soup by spending all day typing, tweeting, texting and playing video games on their handhelds. The results showed, unsurprisingly, that youngsters are adapting quickly to reading books on these devices:
About 25 percent of the children surveyed said they had already read a book on a digital device, including computers and e-readers. Fifty-seven percent between ages 9 and 17 said they were interested in doing so.
Only 6 percent of parents surveyed owned an e-reader, but 16 percent said they planned to buy one in the next year. Eighty-three percent of those parents said they would allow or encourage their children to use the e-readers.
Unsurprisingly, Scholastic execs were AMAZED to finds out that kids are adopting the technology to read; evidently these execs have not been out in public lately and noticed everyone in the world gabbing on their phones and texting while they walked, drive and watch movies, and unaware that kids are very imitative.
“I didn’t realize how quickly kids had embraced this technology,” Ms. Alexander said, referring to computers and e-readers or other portable devices that can download books. “Clearly they see them as tools for reading — not just gaming, not just texting. They see them as an opportunity to read.”
Milton Chen, a senior fellow at the George Lucas Educational Foundation, said the report made the case that children want to read on new digital platforms.
“The very same device that is used for socializing and texting and staying in touch with their friends can also be turned for another purpose,” Mr. Chen said. “That’s the hope.”
All of this points up a marketing theory which we don’t know the technical name for…we’ll call it the You’re F*cked Theorem. It worked for piano rolls, radio, TV, internet, handhelds…all advances in communications technology. Basically if you suddenly notice that everyone around you is adapting a new platform and your products are not available or adaptable on that platform….you’re f*cked. <
Anyone notice that the Nintendo DS has networking capabilities (802.11b)? And that they offer a “100 Books” cartridge? Nintendo does promote the “family affair” networking aspect of the DS, suggesting the household has more than one DS (quite possible, as the platform has existed for six years, selling 132 million units worldwide).
The PSP is also actively exploiting the market, with many comicbook apps available. (Not to mention the Sony Ereader…)
How many grade schools now offer laptops to children?
Might the theorem be better stated as “UR PWNED”?
See, I would’ve gone with calling it just a subset of the larger “Publishers Are Idiots Theorem”
Thanks for flagging this article… very interesting info.
Another aspect of all this is the capability of kids to use their devices to CREATE books as well as read them.
http://www.thisisbrandx.com/2010/03/cell-phone-books-a-hot-new-trend-meet-japans-phoney-novelist.html
I think this is just as important a factor in child literacy as reading. The idea of creating and sharing stories (and learning from the experience while having “fun”) is going to be a more important part of this next generation’s culture.
Re: Print – I predict we will see more and more print-on-demand models out there rather than the traditional ‘print run.’ I say this simply because our children are far more ecologically aware than we are and will embrace print as a unique item.
“When asked about the one device parents would like their child to stop using for a one- or two-week period, parents most often cite television, video game systems, and cell phones.”
…as opposed to what other devices? Dishwashers? Toilets? No kidding parents think entertainment devices are overused.
Kids are reading. That’s good enough for me.