SURVEY
Following are the results from a survey given to customers in Borders Books and Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Customers were asked to fill out a one-page survey about e-books, told their information was needed even if they considered themselves "computer illiterate", and allowed as much time as they needed to complete the survey.

There were 154 total respondents to the survey. 82 were male, 70 were female, and 2 did not write down their gender. 6 respondents were in the 18 and under age range, 51 were in the 19-29 range, 28 were in the 30-39 range, 32 were in the 40-49 range, 24 were in the 50-59 range, 11 were in the 60-69 range, and 2 reported being 70 or older. Of this group, 23(not quite 15%) had read an electronic book before. 87 (about 56.4%) had not read an electronic book, but reported that they would be willing to try reading one. 41 (26.6%) had not read an e-book and reported that they would not be willing to try reading one, and 3 (about 2%) had not read one and were undecided as to whether they would be willing to try reading an e-book.

Of the 23 respondents who had read e-books, 13 were male, 9 were female, and 1 had not written their gender. 1 respondent was in the 18 and under range, 11 were between 19-29, 4 were between 30-39, 7 were between 40-49 and 1 was between 50-59. No one reported a higher age range in this group. 14 of these (slightly over 60%) reported their comfort level with computer and internet use as a five on a scale between one and five with five being the highest. 7 (about 30%) reported a 4, and 2 reported a 3 on that scale. No one in this group reported below a 3 on their comfort level with computer and internet use. 20 (86.9%) of the respondents in this group reported owning a computer with internet access; 10 (43.4%) reported owning a handheld organizer such as a Palm Pilot which would most likely have e-book capability. 6 of the respondents reported having read e-books for business, 11 for pleasure, and 6 for both. When asked whether they would recommend the experience of reading an e-book to a friend, 13 (56.5%) said yes, 6 (26%) said no, and 4 were undecided. When asked if they were given a choice between an e-book and a print book at the same price which book they would buy, 4 said they would buy an e-book, 18 said they would buy a print book, and 1 was undecided.

Of the 87 respondents who said they had not read an e-book but would be willing to try reading one, 43 were male, 37 were female and 1 did not report their gender. 4 were in the 18 and under age range, 32 were in the 19-29 range, 18 were in the 30-39 range, 15 were in the 40-49 range, 14 were in the 50-59 range, 4 were in the 60-69 range, and 1 reported being 70 or older. 72 (82.7%) of this group reported owning a computer with internet access; 18 (20.6%) reported owning a handheld organizer such as a Palm Pilot. When asked to rate their comfort level with computers and internet use on a scale of 1 to 5 with five being the highest level of comfort, 30 (34.4%) rated themselves a five, 28 (32.1%) rated a 4, 22 (25.2%) rated a 3, 6 (6.8% rated a 2) and 1 rated a 1.

Of 41 respondents who said they had not read an e-book and were not willing to try reading one, 23 were male and 17 were female. 9 were in the 19-29 age range, 6 were in the 30-39 range, 10 were in the 40-49 range, 8 were in the 50-59 range, 6 were in the 60-69 range and 1 reported being 70 or older. 31 (75.6%) reported owning a computer with internet access and only 1 reported owning a handheld organizer such as a Palm Pilot. When asked to rate themselves on a level of 1 to 5 for their comfort level with computers and internet use, with 5 being the most comfortable, 7 (about 17%) rated themselves a 5, 16 (about 39%) rated a 4, 8 (19.5%) rated a 3, 2 (4.8%) rated a 2, and 7 (about 17%) rated themselves at a 1, the lowest level of comfort.

I will be interpreting what I believe this data means in a separate paper combining what I have learned from the survey and from other research I have done during the summer. I hope to make predictions about the future of the e-book industry partially based on these results.