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!

Kindle Killer? Probably not, but will the iPad become a Kindle Cannibalizer?

OK, we got it. The iPad is not a Kindle killer. At least that's what we hear in the last couple of days following a recent survey of about 1,000 consumers by JP Morgan’s Internet team. Among other things this survey found that 40% of iPad owners also own a Kindle and that 23% of iPad users said that they plan to buy a Kindle in the next year.

So, no killing, but how about cannibalizing? How much can the iPad (and other tablets) squeeze the e-reader market, making the Kindle the preferred device only for the niche of avid and semi-avid readers?

Let's look first at the JP Morgan's survey. Erick Schonfeld summed it up on TechCrunch (click on the picture to see it in full size)

These are very interesting results. Like many others I also thought that the the iPad will have a greater negative influence on the Kindle and other e-readers sales.

But even though it's clear now that Amazon did a very good job in differentiating the Kindle from the iPad, as well as in marketing it, there is still one BIG question that is still unanswered:

How significantly the iPad (and other tablets) would cannibalize the e-reader market?

Yes, we know that the Amazon did well in 2010 (they won't say of course how many Kindle devices they sold but a recent report from Bloomberg estimated that Amazon was likely to sell 8 million Kindles in 2010), but how well will it do in 2011 and 2012 with dozens of new tablets coming and when the with estimates that U.S. sales of tablet computers will more than double in 2011 to 24.1 million?

I wonder how many of the 40% iPad owners that also own a Kindle bought first the Kindle and then the iPad? I would guess that probably 80-90 percent of them. So what we can learn from it? One possibility that is not mentioned on the JP Morgan's survey is that consumers bought a Kindle because that what was available in the market back then, but they want something that is more than just an e-reader and that's why they bought the iPad when it became available in 2010.

So one possible conclusion can be that the Kindle is not good enough for many consumers, who don't read much, and want to have other features such as internet browsing, e-mail, watching video, and playing games. Now when there will be so many new tablets available, it is definitely possible that this sort of logic will get consumers to buy the iPad 2 or any other tablet instead of the Kindle. The result: The Kindle sales will decline or at least won't grow as much.

True, 23% of the iPad users say they plan to buy a Kindle in the next year, but how many of them will actually do so? I guess this is the variable that will actually determine to what degree the iPad will cannibalize the Kindle sales. If 23% or even 15%-20% of tablet owners will also purchase the Kindle (or Nook or Kobo), then the Kindle will do just fine. But if the percentage would be significantly lower, then Amazon will dominate mainly a relatively small market niche that includes just avid and semi-avid readers that would care about the advantages the Kindle has over the iPad when it comes to e-reading.

Bottom line: Projections for the Kindle sales on 2011 expect less Kindle devices to be sold this year compared to last year (4-5 million in 2011 compared to 8 million in 2010), but we'll need to be patient and wait to the end of 2011 to see the real influence the iPad and other tablets have on the e-reader market in general and the Kindle sales specifically. Then we'll know if the iPad is really cannibalizing the Kindle or they can both co-exist and grow their sales happily ever after.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

How can Barnes & Noble avoid bankruptcy? 5 Lessons from the unfortunate case of Borders

It looks like Borders' bankruptcy is becoming inevitable. As the AP reported last Thursday, "Borders Group Inc. has delayed payments to some of its vendors as the nation's second-largest bookseller seeks to preserve cash while it struggles to refinance its debt."

With decreasing sales (17.6% down in the last quarter compared with the third quarter of 2009), growing operating loss ( $74.4 million for the quarter ended Oct. 30.), shrinking cash reserves and assets, growing difficulties to refinance its debt, a stock that is diving below $1, and maybe above all, lack of strategy on how to get back on the track, it's really hard to imagine how Borders can avoid bankruptcy.

I wonder what the executives at Barnes & Noble think about it. I am quite sure they don't celebrate even though Borders is a significant competitor, but I wonder if they see it as a warning sign. Because I believe that even if B&N looks a little bit better shape than Borders, they're also in a very bad position and are next in line for bankruptcy. I still think that unlike Borders they have a chance to avoid it, but that will only happen if they'll learn the right lessons from the case of Borders:

1. You need a strategy - Borders thought it can make it using some patches like using Google’s Local Availability tool and Meetup Everywhere to "create a more interactive shopping experience" and closing some stores. These are nice steps but they're definitely no substitute to a clear and comprehensive strategy that will enable Borders to win the wars of the changing book market. B&N, to remind you, doesn't have such a strategy as well.

2. You need to worry for both your brick and mortar and your online operations - Borders, as Matthew Lynley of VentureBeat mentioned last week focused mainly on its brick and mortar stores: "despite losing out on sales of books and other products, Borders is essentially looking to pull a GameStop and stay focused on their brick and mortar stores. Borders acknowledged eBooks and eReaders as a definitive threat to their business, but expects its in-store sales to remain intact, according to its most recent 10-Q filing."

Both the brick and mortar stores and the online store are battleground and not making an effort to make both channels successful is a mistake. B&N suffers from a similar problem, only it looks like it is the opposite one - they put a lot of effort on improving their online activity and very little effort on their brick and mortar stores. This is OK if they want to ditch the stores and leave just BN.com as their main activity. But if they want to maintain both channels (which makes more sense), then they need to put more effort in both of them, not to mention improving the synergy between the two.

3. It's time to think out of the box - Borders didn't think out of the box and failed to find ways to bring book buyers to its stores and gain profitability. Frankly, I don't think there are any solutions there. If B&N want to avoid Borders' fate they should start thinking outside the box (and not, selling toys at their stores is not an example for such thinking), or even better, think like there is no box at all (here's our 2 cents on what can work for them).

4. The NOOK alone can't save you - Even though Borders might be sorry now that they don't sell their own e-reader like B&N, I think the lesson from the Borders' case is actually that the problems of the big chains are so profound that no single product, no matter how successful it is (The Nook linkeup has just become Barnes & Noble's best-selling product of all-time), can solve it.

Let's be clear: No matter how successful the Nook is (and relatively it has only about 4% market share), it still doesn't generate any incentive whatsoever for customers to go to B&N stores and buy there books, and the stores represent more than 90% of its sales. Eventually, even with the Nook, there is no substitute for strategy.

5. There is no time - Maybe B&N think they still have time, especially now after they had successful holidays sales, or at least that they don't have to do much until they will sell the company, and then it's going to be the buyers' problem. Well, they are wrong. As we can learn from the Borders' case, the tipping point of financial distress can be closer than it looks and when one block falls, the others tend to fall very quickly afterwards. Every day that goes by without taking serious steps is increasing the chance for bankruptcy, with our without a new buyer.

The case of Borders is definitely unfortunate, but B&N can still avoid taking the same path. I'm not sure if these lessons alone will save B&N, but I'm certain that if B&N will avoid them, they are significantly increasing the chances that they will follow Borders.

What do you think? We'll be happy to hear your thoughts!

More related articles:

Borders is closing stores, adding Google tools and teaming with MeetUp - Is this a winning strategy? Probably not..

Barnes & Noble is expecting to generate $3-$5 billion from e-books sales in 2013 - is it realistic?

Is there a future for Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores? Is it a green one?

Can monetary incentives + local benefits generate a brighter future for independent bookstores?,

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!