Here’s one that should encourage parents everywhere: kids aren’t reading less. They’re just reading differently.
Disney Publishing reported Friday that they’ve hit a major milestone – the one million mark – in downloads of Disney book apps for Apple devices, such as iPhones, iPod Touches, and their wildly popular tablet iPad, which debuted last year.
If you aren’t familiar with how the apps work, well, let’s just say they take reading to the next level. More than just text stories, like similar books for Kindles or Nooks (popular e-readers by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, respectively), the iOS apps are interactive, embedding additional media within the story. They also give the consumer the option to read stories aloud – or even to have the stories read to them.
Disney Publishing currently has nine children’s titles available in the format, which range in price from $.99 to $8.99. The line includes stories, digital comics (remember the movie “Big”?) and even a virtual Princess sticker book. (The prices vary widely based upon title and device.)
And – no surprise – according to Disney, all of the titles have been in iTunes top ten paid-books list since iPad’s debut last spring; all good news for an industry that’s struggling and trying to reinvent itself in the wake of changing technology.
