The good news is ...

... people still like to read, no matter the format of the printed word.

From MediaDailyNews:

The number of U.S. adults who own an e-reader -- meaning devices like the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, not Apple's iPad -- has tripled over the last year, according to GfK MRI. Where 2.1 million adults owned an e-reader device in March-October 2009, that number has soared to 5.9 million in the same period of 2010.

What's more, the gender balance of e-reader ownership has evened out. Last year, 56% of e-reader owners were male, but that proportion has shrunk to 49% this year -- exactly matching the proportion of the total population. In a promising finding for marketers, e-reader owners also tend to be relatively affluent: 55% come from households with annual incomes over $100,000.

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