The Book Saver offers a new way to digitize your library (if you have the time and patience)

Ion Audio is releasing the Book Saver, an e-reader conversion system for printed materials. According to the company, it's the "fastest and most convenient system for transferring novels, textbooks and periodicals to the digital realm."

As you can see in the video below, Book Saver has two cameras that take separate images in rapid succession of each page within an open book. Book Saver works very fast - it takes only one second per two pages according to the company, which means that to copy a 200-page book will take you about 15 minutes.

The Book Saver, which will be offered in a price of $149, is indeed a great way to digitize your library, but will readers have the time and energy to really use it, when they can digitize almost any book in their library by purchasing and downloading it in no effort and no time?

Let's take for example a beloved book on my shelf - Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. It has 464 pages, which means that using the Book Saver it will take me about 35 minutes to digitize the whole book, if I won't get tired and keep doing it at the same pace. On the other hand, I can go to Amazon Kindle store, pay $12.99 (for some reason the e-book cost more than the paperback..) and have it on my Kindle in one minute. In this case, I would say I would go for the second option and maybe spend an half hour reading it instead of storing it.

What would you do? Do you see yourself using the Book Saver or you rather just digitize your library by downloading it? We'll be happy to hear your thoughts.




Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Where readers buy their ebooks? Week 6 of our 10-week survey: It's getting messy!

We're on the 6th week of our 10-week ebook experiment. Like all experiments, it began with a question: Where will readers look to buy their ebooks? Following the launch of Google eBookstore, its collaboration with independent bookstores and with Amazon, B&N, Borders and other bookstores fighting on their market share, the competition between ebook retailers is getting fierce.

Our assumption is that many readers will look for e-books using a search engine and will buy from one of the first results of their search. So we randomly chose 10 books of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2010 and googled each title with the word ebook and wrote down the first two results we got. We redo it every Thursday for 10 weeks and will see if there are any changes in the search results.

Here are the results for week 6. In brackets you'll see the first week results. If they were the same we just wrote 'same'. And if you click on the titles, you will be forwarded to the first place on the title's search):

1. Girl by the Road at Night by David Rabe
1st place: Simon & Schuster (same)
2nd place: Simon & Schuster (same)

2. The Long Song by Andrea Levy
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Amazon.com (same)

3. The New Yorker Stories by Ann Beattie
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Simon & Schuster (Amazon)

4. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Powell's Books (Random House)

5. Big Girls Don't Cry by Rebecca Traister
1st place: Simon & Schuster (same)
2nd place: Simon & Schuster (same)

6. The Price of Altruism by Oren Harman
1st place: Kobo (same)
2nd place: Amazon.com (same)

7. INSECTOPEDIA by Hugh Raffles
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Amazon (eBooks.com)

8. Country Driving by Peter Hessler
1st place: Goodreads (Barnes & Noble)
2nd place:Barnes & Noble (Amazon)

9. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
1st place: Random House (eBooks.com)
2nd place: eBookMall (Barnes & Noble)

10. Hitch 22 by Christopher Hitchens
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Barnes & Noble (same)

Here's the summary of the results:

	Amazon		B&N		Publishers		Others
	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd
week 1	6	3	1	2	3	4	0	1
week2	6	4	1	3	3	3	0	0
week3	6	2	1	2	3	4	0	2
week4	6	3	2	1	2	4	0	2
week5	5	4	1	2	2	3	2	1
week6	5	3	0	2	3	3	2	2

We give 2 points for 1st place and 1 point for 2nd place:

		Amazon		B&N		Google		Publishers		Others
week 1		15		4		0		10		1
week 2		16		5		0		9		0
week 3		14		4		0		10		2
week 4		15		5		0		8		2
week 5		14		4		0		7		5
week 6		13		2		0		9		6

So what do have here? Amazon lost another point, but is still in the first place, but right now this is not the news. The real is news is that a) B&N is loosing ground with their worst performance so far (just 2 points) and b) we see a growing number of new players joining the game - Powell's Books and eBookMall, which are joining gooreads and kobo, giving the 'Others' segment on the highest number of points so far - 6 points.

Conclusions? Not yet, but it looks like the competition is getting stronger, which means that it might be a field of Amazon and many others, or just multiple number of players without anyone that really dominant the search results. Anyway, it's certainly getting more interesting! See you next Thursday.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The audiobook of the week: The Playbook by Barney Stinson and Matt Kuhn (and a giveaway!)

The Playbook (or in it's full name - The Playbook: Suit up. Score chicks. Be awesome.) by Barney Stinson and Matt Kuhn is not necessarily just for the fans of 'How I Met Your Mother', but it's definitely a guys' audiobook (I don't know if there's even such a thing, but if there is an audiobook that guys and only guys will enjoy, this is the one).

Well, at least I'm not such a big fan of 'How I Met Your Mother' and I really enjoyed this audiobook. I have to admit though that I've seen couple of episodes, so I know who Barney Stinson is (I had no idea who Matt Kuhn is and later on learned he's a staff writer for the show and helps write Barney's Blog on the show's website).

Neil Patrick Harris who is reading The Playbook (and plays Barney Stinson in the show if you haven't seen it at all) provides here another example of a great actor that provides a great added-value to this book by reading it and makes it REALLY funny.

I guess not all guys would appreciate 75 ways of how to seduce women, but I believe most of them will, even the ones who are out of the game for a while, who can only be sorry they didn't have access to The Playbook when they were dating, or trying to date women. I really doubt how many of these techniques actually work (SNASA scientist? the Olympian? the Author?), but Patrick Harris sounds so convincing, so who knows..

The bottom line is that this audiobook is a great laugh and also a good lesson in awesomeness and that's all it matters. I especially recommend it for trips in the car on the way to a bachelor party (I'm thinking on The Hangover for example) or for road trips in general.

You can purchase this audiobook as a CD pack (2 disks) or download it (which we must add is the greener option between the two).

Here's a description of the new audiobook (from the publisher's website):
Since the dawn of history man has searched for the answer to the most fundamental of questions: "Why am I here . . . not banging chicks?" The search is over. Now, with the help of The Playbook, you'll be able to approach any beautiful woman, discover her innermost passion, and use that to trick her into sleeping with you. You'll master more than 75 seduction techniques, developed by pickup guru and all-around good guy Barney Stinson, guaranteed to turn you into a bona fide ladies' man.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

Disclosure: We received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher (Simon and Simon Audio).

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!

We're giving away a copy of this audiobook, courtesy of the publisher, Simon & Simon audio!

How you can win? Very simple. All you have to do is to add a comment with your tip on the best way become a ladies’ man just like Barney Stinson. We will have a raffle on Wednesday, January 19, 5:00PM EST between all the readers that will leave a comment by then. The winner will be announced the following day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

How green is your (and my) Kindle?

Fact 1: I have a Kindle.

Fact 2: I have no idea what is its carbon footprint.

Fact 3: No one really knows it (well, maybe Amazon does, but they don't tell us, so who knows..)

There was an attempt to figure out the Kindle's footprint in 2009 - Cleantech Group published on August 2009 a report (E-readers a win for carbon emissions) which determined it was "an average of 167.78 kg of CO2 during its lifespan". We looked carefully at the report and wrote here (New report finds Kindle greener than physical books - is that really so?) about our doubts regarding the validity of the findings.We thought that as these results are not based on a life cycle analysis and lack any sort of scientific base they shouldn't be used.

I wouldn't get into it again if I haven't had the chance to see that this figure was presented last December on ABC'S Good Morning America by Sierra Club Green Home's Jennifer Schwab in a segment of 'Just One Thing' that was about how green e-readers really are. You can see it yourself on the video below and even in the picture below of the video, where there's a sign next to a Kindle saying 'E-reader: 168 kg CO2.



I was surprised to see that Sierra Club Green Home use this figure and therefore I'd like to remind them as well as others who are interested in finding out what the Kindle's footprint is what's wrong with this figure of 168 kg CO2.

Here's what I wrote about it in our analysis here back in September 2009:

"...the second-generation Kindle represents the same emissions as 15 books bought in person or 30 purchased online. That would yield a range of between 60.2 to 306 kg of CO2, or an average of 167.78 kg of CO2 during its lifespan."

The problem is with this estimate (Kindle has the same emissions as 15 books bought in person or 30 purchased online). This is not a figure provided by Amazon. The report is explaining that "Amazon declined to provide information about its manufacturing process or carbon footprint". This report takes this figure from a "Los Angeles-based architecture and construction firm Marmol Radziner Prefab used the IDC lifecycle analysis calculator."

I went on to check how Marmol Radziner Prefab come out with this number if Amazon doesn't provide any data and found on their website that "One of our architects recently gave the calculator a whirl by estimating the carbon footprint of Amazon’s new Kindle Wireless Reading Device. " OK, but how did he do it? they explain: "He answered a few questions and found that the Kindle has the same footprint as 30 paperbacks ordered from Amazon’s store. So if you’re going to read more than 30 books on your Kindle, it’s greener to purchase the digital reader than the paper copies."

Given the fact that Amazon doesn't provide any data (well, we have to say the report mention that Amazon has established a recycling program by mail for Kindle and its batteries to prevent the improper disposal of e-waste), this figure looks to me as a guestimation. In any case, an experimental use of an architect with the IDC lifecycle analysis calculator is far from being something you can take into an account in an analysis, especially when you don't have any second or third sources to verify it.

The person who actually made this investigation in the first place and whom the research refers to added a comment to the post on our blog saying:

"..this was done over the weekend as a (fairly intensive) exploration of the calculator software and should not in any way be interpreted as a scientific study...I am a little bit shocked that Cleantech would appropriate this post without at least asking me about the rigor of my methods, or simply doing a few hours' more research on their own and getting a more accurate result from the calculator themselves. Much more rigor should as well go into the lifecycle study of paperback books, particularly factoring in overproduction and the costs of warehousing and recycling the unsold stock."

So as you can see the figure of 168 kg C02 is far from being scientific-based or anything close it (unlike for example the iPad's footprint of 130 kg CO2 that is provided by Apple and therefore is considered reliable). Therefore, I think Sierra Club and others shouldn't use it and wait until Amazon release their own figure or a reliable life cycle analysis will be conducted to figure it out.

More resources on the ebooks vs. paper books environmental debate can be found on our website at http://www.ecolibris.net/ebooks.asp.


Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting Sustainable Reading!

How the Dodd-Frank Bill will make sure there are no conflict minerals in Apple's iPad?

That's a question I'm asking myself since the Dodd-Frank Bill Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law last July, as it included a provision that was specifically addressing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which might be used in the manufacturing process of the iPad (as well as other e-readers and tablet computers).

The bill, as Laura Heaton explained last July on Change.org, "includes a provision requiring U.S. companies that import products containing certain minerals to file an annual report declaring whether they source their minerals from Congo or one of the nine surrounding countries, since much of Congo’s mineral wealth is smuggled out of the region through its neighbors. If a company declares that its supply chain passes through the region, it will have to report what steps it is taking to trace the origin of the minerals and ensure that its purchases don’t fund armed groups responsible for atrocities in eastern Congo."

I'm still trying to figure out how companies like Apple address the new provision so I was happy to learn that IHS and GreenBiz Group will have a free webcast that about this issue on Janurary 20. Spekaers include Rory King, Director, Global Product Marketing, IHS , Andrew K. Reese, Editor, Supply & Demand Chain Executive, Scott Wilson, Content Solution Strategist, IHS, and it will be moderated by John Davies, VP, Senior Analyst, GreenBiz Group .

Here are some more details on the webcast from its webpage:

Almost overnight, deeply entrenched high tech industry experts and the general public alike, were startled by the inclusion of "conflict minerals" being signed into law within the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The six-page legislative provisions signed on July 21, 2010 will have a direct impact on the supply chain, especially consumer electronics companies square in its cross-hairs. Gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten are among materials subject to regulatory requirements that seek to limit or eliminate materials that support parties linked with human rights abuses and funding armed groups in or near the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The most immediately affected are publicly traded companies, most notably in the high tech sector, who are subject to pending SEC reporting requirements. However, the question remains: Will a conflict minerals movement sink enough teeth into the supply chain to fundamentally change price, availability and supplier selection for these metals and subsequently blind-side adjacent supply chains and all regions around the globe? Find out.

Join IHS and GreenBiz Group on this live webcast as they unveil the results of an exclusive survey that gauged awareness, sentiment, concern, and preparedness of the supply chain in response to conflict minerals traceability and accountability. They will share findings from the study and share practitioner insight as to such questions as:

• What is this Conflict Minerals law and what are the conflict metals?
• Where are these materials used throughout the supply chain?
• How prepared are companies and their suppliers to trace this information today?
• What are the most current global conflict mineral concerns?
• What are the current best practices in environmental compliance?

You can sign for it here.

You can learn more on conflict minerals on this video:



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting Sustainable Reading!

Green news from the pulp and paper industry in North America

I read two interesting stories this week with a promise for a better future for the forests and the paper industry in North America.

The first story is not all that new, but I read about it only this week, so it was new to me :) It is about Georgia-Pacific (GP), one of the largest wood and paper products companies operating in the Southern United States, which announced that "it will no longer purchase trees from endangered forests and special areas, or from new pine plantations established at the expense of natural hardwood forests."

NRDC, which worked with GP to develop this new policy (together with other environmental groups - Dogwood Alliance and Rainforest Action Network) explained in a press release from last November that "While GP’s new forest policy applies to all of its operations, as a first step in implementing its commitment on Endangered Forests and Special Areas, GP worked with the environmental groups and scientists to identify 11 Endangered Forests and Special Areas totaling 600,000 acres in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Eco-Region, as well as 90 million acres of natural hardwood forests in the Southern region. Endangered Forests and Special Areas in other regions will be mapped in a similar process, over the coming years."

The South’s natural forests are home to more plant and animal species than anywhere else in North America, yet less than two percent of the region's forests are protected, and the South produces more wood and paper than any other place in the world.

This is an important step - “No other U.S. company has demonstrated this level of initiative in mapping unique forests across such a broad region,” said Debbie Hammel, NRDC Senior Resource Specialist in the NRDC's press release. And as Zacary Shahan of Planetsave that wrote on this story this week said "hopefully, the NRDC, RAN, and Dogwood Alliance can get other companies to follow suit soon."

The second story is definitely new - AFP reported yesterday that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a 278-million-dollar (279-million US) investment to help Canada's pulp and paper industry become more environmentally friendly.

"Speaking in Windsor, Quebec, Harper said Ottawa would namely allocate nearly 25 million dollars to paper manufacturer Domtar Corporation to help its pulp and paper mill "invest in energy-efficient and environment-friendly technologies."

The 24.8-million-dollar (24.9-million US) investment is part of the government's much touted Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program, which seeks to help mills in Canada reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and produce renewable energy from forest biomass. The rest of the investment would go to plants in New Brunswick, Alberta and British Columbia."

Harper is not considered very green and is blamed for refusing to make combating climate change a priority, so it will be interesting to see if he will prioritize the efforts to green up the pulp and paper industry in Canada. He himself said about the new investment in the industry that "I'm well aware of the criticisms. But what we need are concrete measures in order to really meet those targets. And this government has been the first one to take concrete measures such as the one being announced today."

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Where readers buy their ebooks? Week 5 of our 10-week survey: eBooks.com is on the rise!

We're halfway on our 10-week ebook experiment. Like all experiments, it began with a question: Where will readers look to buy their ebooks? Following the launch of Google eBookstore, its relationships with independent bookstores and with Amazon, B&N, Borders and other book retailers fighting on their market share, the competition between ebook retailers is getting fierce.

Our assumption is that many readers will look for e-books using a search engine and will buy from one of the first results of their search. So we randomly chose 10 books of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2010 and googled each title with the word ebook and wrote down the first two results we got. We redo it every Thursday for 10 weeks and will see if there are any changes in the search results.

Here are the results for week 5. In brackets you'll see the first week results. If they were the same we just wrote 'same'. And if you click on the titles, you will be forwarded to the first place on the title's search):

1. Girl by the Road at Night by David Rabe
1st place: Simon & Schuster (same)
2nd place: Simon & Schuster (same)

2. The Long Song by Andrea Levy
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Amazon.com (same)

3. The New Yorker Stories by Ann Beattie
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Amazon.com (same)

4. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Random House (Simon & Schuster)

5. Big Girls Don't Cry by Rebecca Traister
1st place: Simon & Schuster (same)
2nd place: Simon & Schuster (same)

6. The Price of Altruism by Oren Harman
1st place: Kobo (Amazon.com)
2nd place: Amazon.com (same)

7. INSECTOPEDIA by Hugh Raffles
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: eBooks.com (same)

8. Country Driving by Peter Hessler
1st place: Barnes & Noble (same)
2nd place:Amazon.com (goodreads)

9. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
1st place: eBooks.com (B&N)
2nd place: Barnes & Noble (Random House)

10. Hitch 22 by Christopher Hitchens
1st place: Amazon.com (same)
2nd place: Barnes & Noble (same)

Here's the summary of the results:

	Amazon		B&N		Publishers		Others		Google
	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd
week 1	6	3	1	2	3	4	0	1	0	0
week2	6	4	1	3	3	3	0	0	0	0
week3	6	2	1	2	3	4	0	2	0	0
week4	6	3	2	1	2	4	0	2	0	0
week5	5	4	1	2	2	3	2	1	0	0

We give 2 points for 1st place and 1 point for 2nd place:

		Amazon		B&N		Google		Publishers		Others
week 1		15		4		0		10		1
week 2		16		5		0		9		0
week 3		14		4		0		10		2
week 4		15		5		0		8		2
week 5		14		4		0		7		5

So what do have here? Amazon lost one point, but is still in the first place with no real competition in site. B&N didn't change much and the publishers' websites continue to lose power (30% decrease since we started the experience). The main change we see this week is a rise in 'others' with the first time that websites like eBooks.com or Kobo win a first place (eBooks.com also had another second place). It will be interesting to see if this trend will continue in the next weeks. See you next Thursday.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!