May 1st, 2009
Amazon forum: 70 percent of Kindle owners over 40
CNET’s David Carnoy has been trying to figure out just how old Amazon Kindle e-book readers actually are, and he may have just found out.
Posting about it several months ago and citing a thread in Amazon’s forums discussing Kindle owners’ ages, he wondered aloud just how old a typical Kindle owner is, since Amazon won’t provide official figures.
Well, now we (might) know.
Apparently, one user tabulated 700 or so responses in that thread to take a sample.
Here are the results:
- 0 - 19: 5%
- 20 - 29: 10%
- 30 - 39: 15%
- 40 - 49: 19.5%
- 50 - 59: 23%
- 60 - 69: 19.5%
- 70 - 79: 6%
- 80+: 2%
As Carnoy writes, if you add it all up, over half the owners are over 50 and 70 percent are over 40.
This isn’t a particularly exacting survey, but it certainly gives a ballpark to Kindle ownership…at least those dedicated enough to read the forums about the device.
Why this age group? A few reasons: First, price. For $359, a younger group could buy a gaming console or an iPod touch (or two). Second, many seniors have indicated in the forum that the digital reader is easier to handle and read than regular books for arthritis sufferers and those with poor eyesight, respectively.
(Kindle Culture has more info on the breakdown, including the neat graph above.)
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
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| 05/01/09
