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Offering further proof of digital media's strengthening grip on the entertainment industry, Amazon announced Thursday that it now sells more e-books for its Kindle device than all print format's; that's both paperback and hardcover combined. |
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亞馬遜提供了進一步證明，顯示數位媒體在娛樂業中的影響力正逐漸升高，該公司週四宣布，目前 Kindle 品牌售出的電子書，已經超越了所有的印刷本，此乃包括所有平裝書和精裝書的總和。 |
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With more people spending their lives staring at one form of glowing screen or another, perhaps this recent revelation should come as no great surprise. |
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However, even online retail giant Amazon seemed somewhat caught off guard by the rapidity of the sea change. |
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由於有越來越多人花時間盯著各式各樣發光的屏幕看，或許最近的這項發現應該不令人感到太意外。然而，就連網路巨擘亞馬遜似乎對於會這麼快就發生如此巨變都感到有些措手不及。 |
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"Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. |
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We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly -- we've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a written statement. |
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「現在客戶選擇 Kindle 電子書的頻率高於紙本書了。我們非常希望這種情況終究會發生，但我們根本沒想到竟然會來得這麼快。我們賣紙本書十五年了，賣 Kindle 電子書則還不到四年。」亞馬遜執行長傑夫．貝佐斯在一篇書面聲明中如此表示。 |
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Amazon released its Kindle e-reader in November 2007. |
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Less than three years later, Kindle book sales overtook hardcover book sales. |
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Six months on, paperback books were the next to be unseated as the most popular format on Amazon.com. |
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亞馬遜在二○○七年十一月推出 Kindle 電子書。不到三年後，Kindle 電子書的營收便超越了精裝書的銷量。又過了六個月後，平裝書也被超越，不再是亞馬遜網站上最受歡迎的格式了。 |
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The statistics don't show a complete shift in the public's buying habits -- at least not yet. |
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The statistics only reflect sales of books on Amazon.com, which is the only place one can buy e-books for the Kindle. |
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It is does not take into account sales of books from competing Web sites and brick-and-mortar stores. |
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When these variables are factored in, e-books represent a small minority of total titles purchased. |
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Few deny that the shift at Amazon signals a growing trend, with some analysts predicting overall e-book sales reaching 20% within a year or two. |
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統計數字並未顯示民眾的購買習慣有全然的轉變，至少目前為止是如此。統計數字只反映了亞馬遜網站上書籍的銷售情形，也就是消費者唯一可以買到 Kindle 電子書的地方，該網站並未將競爭對手網站以及實體書店的書籍營收數字列入計算。一旦將這些變數納入計算後，電子書在所有購買書籍中就只佔了一小部分。很少人會否認在亞馬遜書店發生的轉變代表著一股逐漸增長的趨勢，有些分析師則預言電子書的整體營收在一、兩年內將會達到百分之二十。 |
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For an otherwise struggling publishing industry, the growth of electronic books has been a source of some optimism. |
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In March of this year, revenues from e-books were up 145.7% compared with March 2010, according to the Association of American Publishers. |
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At the same time, adult hardcover sales increased 6%, while mass market books grew by 1.2%. |
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對於經營頗為辛苦的出版業來說，電子書的成長已成為某種樂觀氛圍的來源。根據美國出版協會的統計，今年三月，來自電子書的收入已較二○一○年三月時增長了百分之一百四十五點七。同一時間，成人精裝書的營收增幅為百分之六，大眾平裝書籍的營收增幅則為百分之一點二。 |
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E-book buyers now face a variety of choices when it comes to picking e-reader platforms. |
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Competing devices jockey for market share, including Sony's Reader, Barnes & Noble's Nook, and a variety of touchscreen tablets, including Apple's iPad. |
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說到選擇電子讀物平台，電子書買家如今擁有琳瑯滿目的選擇。敵對的電子書競相爭取市佔率，包括索尼的 Reader、邦諾書店的 Nook，以及各式各樣的觸控螢幕平板電腦，包括蘋果電腦的 iPad。 |
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