Home of the printing press

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press back in 1440, and Germans are still attached to printing. I'm thinking of two cultural phenomena in particular.

1. Germany is still a land of cash. Credit cards are not nearly as popular as in America or in other European countries. It's not unusual to find shops where credit cards are not accepted.
2. Germany is slow to embrace e-books. In one of Europe's most literate nations, Kindles and iPads account for only 1% of all book sales (compared with 20% in America).

There are several reasons for thinking that the darth of e-books is cultural. One reason is the large number of bookshops in Germany. Another reason is that publishers take great pride in producing top-quality books in Germany. Dominique Pleimling, a researcher at the Institute of Book Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, says "If you look at American hardcovers and German hardcovers, or even paperbacks, you see clear differences in how they're made - American books often use woody paper that's not especially pleasant. German books have a certain elegance and beauty."

I must admit, that there is also a possible explaination based on economics. In Germany, book prices are set by publishers, not by booksellers like in America. Germany's fixed-price system is intended in part to protect small booksellers by setting prices the same no matter where you buy them. But this is also a cultural phenomena.

Another economic factor is that printed books are exempt from Germany's usual 19 percent value-added tax. Instead they are taxed at 7 percent, the special tax rate for items the government deems essential. But the view that books are essential is also a cultural phomena.
(see by blog on the Land of Poets and Thinkers.)