SURVEY A Winter 2011 Survey Finds Readers Love Their Kindles For Ebook Reading & Buying; Surprisingly High Numbers Read Content They Get From Sources Other Than The Kindle Store; Lending Catching On

SURVEY A Readers Love Their Kindles For Ebook Reading & Buying; Surprisingly High Numbers Read Content They Get From Sources Other Than The Kindle Store; Lending Catching On

Two questions on the 2010 Winter Kindle Nation Citizen Survey asked users about their Kindle experiences from two different perspectives:

• What features of the Kindle do you use? “Tell us about your use of various Kindle features.”

• How does the Kindle perform, feature by feature? The survey asked: “Amazon has been clear that its mission with the Kindle is to provide a superior reading experience. ….Rate the Kindle's performance in each of the following areas:”

This post will stick to the book-related features of the Kindle. A second post deals with the Kindle's various other abilities.

As a dedicated ebook reading device, the Kindle's first mission for nearly all 2,275 respondents to the survey is finding, downloading and presenting books for reading. An overwhelming percentage of them love their Kindles.

In terms of how they use it, 97% said they read and/or download books. Some 54% of them are true ebook addicts, either reading or downloading books every day. About 30% do so weekly, and another 13% get or read books on their Kindles “sometimes.” Forty three people rarely use the feature and, oddly, 5 people said they weren't aware of it.

But how do they rate the Kindle's ebook performance?

“Superior” as a reading device, say 90% or the respondents, giving the feature the highest rating. Another 10% term it “useful, if flawed,” for a very high 99%+ happily reading the Kindle books. Only 8 people said book reading “is not very important to me,” and—oddly again--4 people said they weren't aware of the feature.

Readers really like being able to browse and order Kindle books directly from their Kindle. In terms of use, 54% purchase, download and/or read ebooks daily with the device. About 30% do so weekly, and another 13% “sometimes.” How good is the experience? Some 52% rate browsing and ordering a “superior” experience, while 34% rate it “useful if flawed” for a total of 85%.

In what may be a surprise to many, 42% or those surveyed say they get reading matter from sources other than the Kindle Store. About 5 % do that daily, 11% weekly and 26% stray from the Kindle Store “sometimes.”

A large majority—77% of respondents-- read samples before they buy the ebook. Again, frequency of use varies as expected: 9% read samples nearly every day, 28% do so weekly, and 39% “sometimes.”

Amazon's “Buy Once, Read Anywhere” program is a hit with readers. About 50% or respondents say they buy, download and read ebooks using one of the Kindle apps with a device other than a Kindle. Daily users account for 7% of the total, weekly users add 14% weekly and 29% use the apps “sometimes.”

The very new lending feature is slowly catching on, with nearly 16% of all Kindle owners lending or borrowing ebooks. Nearly every day, 2% do so; weekly, the figure is 4% and another 10% sometimes borrow or lend ebooks. (Note: Fractions less than 0.5 make up the remaining 1%).