Velocity of Change

Velocity, a photo by martin_kalfatovic on Flickr.

Velocity is the measurement of the rate and direction of change. To measure velocity, you need to know both the magnitude and direction if you want to assign a value.

The current report on e-books from the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), released on 28 April 2011 has a lot of interesting information that can help to measure the "velocity of change" in the book industry as it relates to epublishing. BISG gives us a number of measurements on the magnitude (increased sales, higher percentage of readers) and direction (upwards). Taken together, I think it's safe to say that the velocity of change (in the ebook field) is rapidly increasing.

I'll note:

• 13% of print book buyers have downloaded an e-book
• 66% of respondents have moved mostly to e-books
• book sales have INCREASED in the past six months

A quote from Scott Lubeck (BISG Executive Director):

"This is a market in fast motion and identifying trends early is the key to gaining a competitive edge," said Scott Lubeck, BISG's Executive Director. "This on-going BISG baseline study of consumer behavior toward e-books and e-book reading devices is essential to understanding both the velocity of change and its significance to every stakeholder in the book industry."