So Clearly the Thing About Small Screens Is Bunk

As if in answer to recent predictions about the growth in value of eBooks, Shelf Awareness has relayed the news that eBook sales have more than doubled in the past year, and that the bulk of that growth has been due to the increased popularity of eBooks on mobile phones and PDAs.

At the same time, Tobias Buckell notes some news of decreased pricing for commercial eBooks (which formerly cost about the same as a hardcover book, but now seem to be moving more into the mass market paperback range).

See the connection yet? The formula is that cheaper prices on eBooks make it easier to use them as what they are: as Charlie Stross tags them, "disposable literature" that can be readily acquired at low cost and gotten rid of just as easily.

It's worth noting that romance is now one of the biggest-selling eBook genres, which fits with the disposable angle (romance paperbacks as we know them generally are read once and then disposed of--it's almost insane how cheap boxes of used ones go for on eBay).

In essence, it's more of what we've seen in other media from handheld compatibility: music and movies are popular on mobile devices for much the same reasons.

And you know, it took me this long to figure out why the iPhone was so damned important.