Comments on: What's the average age of Kindle owners?

Even though Amazon appears to be trying to appeal to a younger crowd, the Kindle 2 seems to be a favorite among seniors, many who find it easier to handle than a book.

[MadLyb]

I think one key factor for older readers is the ability to scale the type.

I purchased an eReader (Not a Kindle) for my grandmother (93) who has difficulty reading standard type and the selection of large print books is seriously lacking and she uses it continuously.

[Susan_Kay]

I am 56 and my aunt is 75 and we both enjoy the Kindle tremendously. The adjustable font is a boon, but the ability to travel with our libraries is the best reason.

[fire1fl]

I don't have a kindle and probably won't for some time. I already pay for an excellent local library and there are many local booksellers to patronize. But there might come a time when I will want a kindle to keep from having to travel to get books, or to make reading while traveling more convenient.

My off-hand guess is that the age demographic is divided between those who read and those who don't, the simplicity of the reader technology for senior "gifting", and other similar factors. My young friends spend all their time Twittering or other forms of thumbersation on non-reader devices. Their ears are plugged with soundersation devices of wireless blueteeth. Who has time to read something written by someone else when one can look at the pictures, see the movie, listen to the soundtrack, tweet, and move on without ever poring over print? Reading? That's archaic monomedial.

[dwhieb]

I'm only 22 years old and I bought the Kindle 1 the day it came out. I carry it with me religiously. I've already graduated college, but it would have been incredible if Amazon had more textbooks available while I was still in school.

[aschneider3]

I'm 53 and I knew about the first Kindle the day it was released. That said, I am NOT planning on buying one. I get way too many books out of the library or discounted at Costco to want to be locked into essentially paying retail for what I read.

[asher424]

I will turn 60 next month and just received my Kindle 2 after enjoying my Kindle 1 after the Oprah discount. I think this is a combination of having features that are helpful when you get to this age and, as previously mentioned, may still have some money left to buy one.

[stannhealey]

Could the "advanced" age of the Kindle user have anything to do with the reading habits of those over 18? I teach teens, and most of them do not read. I look forward to the widespread use of devices like the Kindle, because I am hoping that they will begin to read if a "book" comes with a toy, like the Happy Meal!

[tru Neu]

The article does not use actual data it is just he author's opinion. Blogs are not actual new sources. I am a kindle owner and am 21. Many of my friends are planning on purchasing one or will own one soon.

[themanwhoknewtoomuch]

I bought one for my mother who is 68. She absolutely loves it. I have one as well, and I'm 36.

[batenoy]

30 years old here. I hope reading isn't going out of style, but it certainly seems that most of the people I meet that are 5-10 years younger than myself disdain reading like they would the plague.

Anyway, I'm an early adopter of most technology and my Kindle is my favorite gadget I've ever owned.

[jpfalcone]

Two contextual factors to keep in mind here: according to an article in Variety (June 2008)--

>> the average American is 38 years old
>> the average viewer of the big 5 broadcast TV networks is *50* years old

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988273.html?categoryid=1275&cs=1

In other words, if the average Kindle owner is 48 years old, he/she is several years younger than the average CBS viewer.

[Lance613]

I'm 30 and just received my Kindle 2. The only other person I know who has a Kindle is 28, but I spoke with him recently and he told me that his iPhone has displaced the Kindle in his daily routine.

As for me, I absolutely love the Kindle 2. I'm an avid reader, but found my reading time increasingly being taken up with blogs and other online content because it was so much more accessible. Now, if I hear about a great book I can download a sample chapter in moments and make a decision on whether or not to buy the book at my leisure. The Kindle had done for reading what the iTunes store on the iPhone did for music. Now if Amazon could only sign up more magazines, the Kindle would be perfect!

Oh, by the way, my eyesight is still pretty good, but being able to increase the font size is amazingly helpful. It is hard to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it, but it is like all of a sudden having the ability to adjust the volume on your TV when before it was always set to a low level. It is a thing of a beauty and makes reading so much more pleasant.

[halflinggray]

If I was going to school and I would very likely get a kindle or similar device for my text books, provided that they were priced sub $50 after that. I would ahve saves so much money...

[halflinggray]

And that education was well worth it apparently. Need to not comment after midnight :/

[7aji88]

Until the Kindle's digital ink display gets colors, I don't think that I can use it to read books for school. Calculus graphs can get pretty colorful sometimes -_-*
Still a cool idea, but look at e-books in the DRM age. Unless in using college library or library code you can't read those e-books online and those that you can actually buy and download aren't that much beside the still expensive price although the book doesn't cost money to print???
Hopefully school books will have a cheap electronic version. We have the technology for it (just a laptop and a PDF reader), but we have some greedy people that come with them as well :(