Last week, the New York Times quoted Apple chief and trendsetter Steve Jobs as saying:

“The fact is that people don’t read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception [of the Kindle] is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Simon Dumenco of AdAge begs to differ:

According to the Association of American Publishers, in 2006 (2007 figures aren’t out yet), “trade sales of adult and juvenile books grew 2.9% to $8.3 billion, a compound growth rate of 3.7% per year since 2002. The strongest growth in this category came from adult paperback books, whose sales last year rose 8.5% to … $2.3 billion. Adult hardbound books [grew] 4.1% to $2.6 billion.”
… “Who are these ‘people’ to whom Steve Jobs is referring?” Publishers Weekly Editor in Chief Sara Nelson asked me last week. “Not the million-ish who are devouring Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ or the ones who line up for Harry Potter and/or James Patterson novels.” She added: “All I can say is that when I sat in restaurants and airports or on buses or trains and pulled out my Kindle, I got more attention than if I’d shown up naked – with an adorable puppy.”