Welcome to the webinar on digital e-book readers

1. Welcome to the webinar on digital e-book readers by Ylva, Lena and Martin

2. Outline • Introduction • curriculum relevance • statement of purpose • service flow economy • eReaders, eBooks and the market • Method - study organization • Results • Discussion

3. curriculum relevance • getting first hand impressions on how people perceive possible sustainable inventions • Our project can serve as an example or inspiration on how research methods and statistical methods can be applied in a project during the LAC course. • Students have the chance of becoming acquainted with research methods • By constructing an on-line survey we’ve had the opportunity to practice how to frame questions and by analyzing the results from the survey we’ve also learned about statistical analysis.

4. Statement of Purpose in how far is the ebook perceived as more environmentally friendly opposed to common paper books and do environmental concerns translate into buying decisions by different age groups, gender and occupational backgrounds?

5. Service Flow Economy - the basics behind the ebook survey a future oriented sustainable economic system cradle-to cradle designs eco-effectiveness a new tool for sustainable commerce

6. The Concept Based on: the cradle to cradle design by Michael Braungart based on eco-effective closed loop cycles

7. Framework products and industrial processes are designed in a way that turn materials into nutrients by enabling their perpetual flow within the biological or technical metabolism. „the cradle to cradle design celebrates consumption and allows economic growth„ - Braungart

8. eco-effectiveness „the concept of eco-efficiency offers a positive alternative to traditional eco-effeciciency approaches for the development of healthy and environmentally benign products and product systems“ - Braungart eco-efficiency (doing things right): maintaining/increasing volume of output while decreasing economic output upon ecological systems eco-effectiveness (doing things the right way): transformation of products and material flows, forming a positive relationship with ecological systems and future economic growth

9. Goal positive relationship with ecological systems not minimizing flow of materials but generating a cyclical metabolisms positive recoupling between economy and ecology instead of downcycling- upcycling

10. Advantages help reduce costs increase revenue streams create richer customer relationships continued availability of materials

11. What is an eReader? Small as a paperback book 150 g Can store thousands of books

12. eReaders Price: 200-300 Euro (in Sweden) “Paper-like” screen - electronic paper displays (EPD) Possible to read in bright sunlight Some eReaders have additional functions such as mp3 players, calendar, speakers, possibilities to put in bookmarks and make own notes in the text.

13. eReaders There are a number of different eReaders on the market.

14. Energy use Use electricity only when you turn pages, so the battery can hold for quite a long time. Some manufacturers declare that it is possible to turn page 9000 times before you need to charge the battery! 

15. E-books Can be bought on-line or borrowed at the library. At the library the time you can have the e-book is limited, just as with ordinary books.

16. Price of eBooks The price of e-books is lively debated on the internet in different blogs and on-line book shops. Customers seem to think the price of e-books is too high. The opinion of many is that an e-book should be less expensive than paperback books to be really interesting. Price range for novels: For free – 15 Euro or more. The lower prices are often on classics.

17. How do publishers protect their e-books? E-books can be protected from copying with different programs, for example Adobe has one protection. As an alternative, e-books can also be marked with a digital “water stamp” i.e. the buyer’s name, which make it easy to trace the original buyer of the e-book.

18. Trends in the eBook market The US e-book market grew from 1.5 % in 2009 to 5% of total book sales in the first quarter 2010. 37 % of e-book buyers bought their first digital book within the last six month

19. Trends in the eBook market 25 % of e-book readers said in a survey (by BISG*) that they buy fewer print books than before 15 % that they don’t buy print books at all 9 % wouldn’t buy a print book even if it wasn’t available as e-book. *Book Industry Study Group

20. Trends in the eBook market E-book purchases are increasing among higher-income consumers. To continue growing the market e-books must be made accessible to those with lower incomes.

21. Trends in the eBook market According to Forrester* the eBook and eReader market has now: “hit a point where it is ready to break out of its niche and become a mainstream phenomenon” * a market and technology research company

22. Drivers of Growth

23. Players on the eBook market Today Amazon has 90 % of the eBook market. Many analysts point out that as the market grows, the opportunities for other players will also grow. Amazon’s share of the market is expected to drop to 35 % over the next five years. Upcoming players are for example Google and Apple.

24. The market for e-textbooks Amazon’s latest eReader, Kindle DX, is developed towards the textbook market. But according to Forrester, universities will probably be slow to adopt the technology. Students won’t be interested unless they can have all their literature as e-books and textbook publishers are unlikely to invest in the technology unless they see a growing market for their content.

25. Environmental aspects 30 million trees to make the books sold only in the US. Many of these are sourced from endangered forests. Globally, over 40% of the industrial wood harvest is used to make paper. Deforestation accounts for 25 % of human caused CO2 emissions Paper accounts for nearly 40 % of the waste stream

26. Are eReaders and e-books a better alternative from an environmental point of view? Study at Centre for Sustainable Consumption at KTH, Sweden. A simplified LCA was made to compare the environmental impacts from a hardback paper book bought in a book shop or bought on-line with the environmental impacts of an e-book read on an eReader. If an e-book replaces a print book, paper production, print and physical distribution can be avoided.

27. Also eReaders and eBooks have impacts on the environment • Energy use by the servers where the e-books are stored and distribution through the Internet. • eReaders have different environmental impacts depending on which components they contain, their energy use and waste management.

28. Some conclusions from the simplified LCA Environmental impact from paper books depends mostly on the paper production. (Recycled paper fibre requires 30-40 % less energy than virgin fiber.) Environmental impact from e-books depends mostly on the production of the eReader.

29. Some conclusions from the simplified LCA • The behavior of the reader plays a big role: • If long car trips are made to buy a (paper) book this impact can make out a big proportion of the environmental impact of the book. • If a book is read by several persons, environmental impacts per read book are considerably lowered. • In order to have a lower environmental impact from e-books than paper books, relatively many books have to be read on the eReader.

30. Some conclusions from the simplified LCA More knowledge is needed about toxic substances in eReaders. No general conclusion on which product that is environmentally preferable could be made.

31. Method - study organization Online survey using mostly nominal and ordinal (Likert scales) variables Created by using the soscisurvey.de free survey platform Distributed through social networks and via email

32. Survey data n = 101 Gender: male (34,7 %); female (65,3 %) Age: 21-30 (60,4 %); 31-40 (20,8 %) Nations: SWE (39,6 %); GER (15,8 %), ITL (6,9 %); CAN (5,9 %) Occupation: Employed (52,5 %); Student (35,6 %); Self-employed (6,9 %)

33. Some general results 68 % would consider reading books as an ebook 16,2 % of all the people questioned are already buying and using ebooks only 3 % of all have ebook readers 55,4 % agree or totally agree (answer 4 and 5) using ebooks is a good idea in their professional life; 19,9 % don‘t or not at all agree 30,7 % agree or totally agree (answer 4 and 5) using ebooks is a good idea in their non-professional life; 51,5 % don‘t or not at all agree

34. Survey analysis In how far is the ebook perceived as more environmentally friendly opposed to common paper books? Do environmental concerns translate into buying decisions? What role do different nationalities, age groups, gender and occupational backgrounds play?

35. Looking at Environmental Concerns 72,3 % of all respondents perceive ebooks in some way environmentally preferable compared to traditional books (taking 4 and 5 together)

36. Gender and Environmental Concerns I "Please compare the preferability of ebooks vs. traditional (paper) books from your personal point of view:“

37. Gender and Environmental Concerns II • Pre-assumption: thereseems to be no differencebetweengender bothgenderseem to perceiveebooksenvironmentallymorepreferablethan traditional books • Tests: Chi²; Cramers V; PRE; Mann-Whitney-U-Test;; n=101 • Chi²: 7,879; significance: ,096  null hypothesiscannotbedismissed (,05); no obviousinterrelationbetween male and female • Cramer-V: ,279; significance: ,096  genderdoesnotplay a significantrole • PRE methods also show no significance • Mann-Whitney-U-Test exact 2 sidedsignificance ,292  null hypothesiscannotbedismissed (,05); no obviousinterrelationbetween male and female • Conclusion: gender does not play a significant role regarding the preferability of eBooks vs. traditional books • Age, nation, occupation not significant either

38. Looking at Environmental properties of ebooks as an important buying criterion 56,4 % agree that environmental properties of ebooks would be an important buying criterion for them 43,6 % don’t agree

39. Gender and the environment as a buying criterion I “The possibility that reading ebooks is more environmental friendly would be an important criterion in my buying decision“ according to gender

40. Gender and the environment as a buying criterion II • Pre-assumption: thereseems to be no bigdifferencebetweengender male genderisalmost 50:50. Femaleseems to bewilling to actmore out of environmentalmotivations • Tests: Chi²; Cramers V; PRE; Mann-Whitney-U-Test;; n=101 • Chi²: ,546; significance: ,460  null hypothesiscannotbedismissed (,05); no obviousinterrelationbetween male and female • Cramer-V: ,074; significance: ,460  genderdoesnotplay a significantrole • PRE methods also show no significance • Mann-Whitney-U-Test exact 2 sidedsignificance ,529  null hypothesiscannotbedismissed (,05); no obviousinterrelationbetween male and female • Conclusion: gender does not play a significant role regarding the environment as a motivating factor for a buying decision • Same holds true for age, nationality and occupation

41. How is environmental concern related to buying criterion? I Possibly not independent – meaning that e.g. a higher value for environmental concern translates into a higher share for environmentally motivated buying decisions; then the variables would be dependent

42. How is environmental concern related to buying criterion? II Tests: Chi²; Cramers V; PRE; Mann-Whitney-U-Test; n=101 Chi²: 8,824; significance: ,066 null hypothesis can not be dismissed (,05); no significant relation between the variables; however it falls behind significance only by ,016 Cramer-V: ,296; significance: ,066 therefore, as well, does not play a significant role PRE methods show no reasonable significance or can not be used Mann-Whitney-U-Test  exact 2 sided significance ,028  null hypothesis can be dismissed (,05) (!); there are significant differences in environmental concern depending on the buying criterion position • Conclusion: statistically and empirically inconclusive • environmental concerns and the buying criterion are not significantly dependent or at least not by our definition (,05 or less) in the Chi² and Cramer Test; • The U test which fits quite well here on the other hand was significant; however there is profound reason to doubt results due to lack of numbers. All in all one could argue that it translates into a minor significance

43. How is the amount of reading in professional life related to the environmental preferability of ebooks? I Possibly not independent; people who read more might be more sensitive to the environmental impact Test: Kendell Tau b (table symmetric and ordinal) and Cramer V Kendell Tau b results in ,139  no significance (needs to be at least ,05) Cramer V results in ,312 no significance (needs to be at least ,05) Conclusion:No significant dependency between reading professionally and the environmental perception of ebooks; perhaps how people perceive “reading a lot” is not comparable and therefore explains that result.

44. How is the amount of reading in leisure related to the environmental preferability of ebooks? I Possibly not independent Test: Kendell Tau b (table symmetric and ordinal) and Cramer V Kendell Tau b results in ,940  no significance (needs to be at least ,05) Cramer V results in ,294 no significance (needs to be at least ,05) Conclusion:No significant dependency between reading for leisure and the environmental perception of ebooks; perhabs how people perceive “reading a lot” is not comparable and therefore explains that result

45. Do people who care about FSC and recycled paper when buying traditional books also care about the environment as a buying criterion regarding ebooks? I

46. Graph shows a clear tendency that the variables are dependent Test: Chi² and Cramer V (nominal variables) Chi² results in ,001  very strong significance (needs to be at least ,05) Cramer V results in ,001 very strong significance (needs to be at least ,05) Do people who care about FSC and recycled paper when buying traditional books also care about the environment as a buying criterion regarding ebooks? II Conclusion: People who already are environmentally very sensitive in their buying decision with regards to traditional books, are also environmentally sensitive in their buying decision with regards to ebooks  the possible environmental aspect of ebooks would be an important buying criterion for them

47. How is the relationship between ebooks as a good idea professionally and ebooks non professionally (leisure) • Possibly not independent • Test: Kendell Tau b (table symmetric and ordinal) and Cramer V • Kendell Tau b results in ,000  very strong significance (needs to be at least ,05) • Cramer V results in ,000 very strong significance (needs to be at least ,05) Conclusion: When looking at the standard residues in the cross tab one can argue that - people who think ebooks are a good idea in non-professional life (leisure) are also significantly likely to perceive them as a good idea on the job. - Vice versa, people who don’t like them on the job, will not like them at home.

48. Survey: Open QuestionsSome notes from the survey “having something in my hand when reading it where you really turn a page is hugely important. The materiality in seeing, smelling and feeling of paper is of great value.” “can't imagine that the especially the production, application and (I assume) short life cycle of e-book reading devices is more environmental friendly than paper books.” “I am not using ebooks (in sense of a full book as a electronical version) at all yet. I don't know who sells them, where to get them, etc.” “About the health concern, over time reading on computer screen may be harmful for eyes and neck. On the other hand book is more user friendly and easy to handle. In that case the choice also varies person to person or individual health preference.“ “Cost/Maintenance of reading device for ebooks. It would be a great disadvantage if those devices break down as easily and often, as say an iPod, or if the software quickly becomes outdated.”

49. Main conclusions from the survey The large majority of the respondents perceive ebooks as environmentally more preferable compared to traditional books; no significant dependencies when looking at gender, age, occupation Only 56 % think that the possibility that reading ebooks is more environmentally friendly would be an important buying criterion for them; no significant dependencies when looking at gender, age, occupation The perception that ebooks are more environmental preferable does not translate into buying decisions; the tests at best show only a minor significance; perhaps there are also other motivating factors when actually buying ebooks No significant dependency between reading professionally or reading for leisure and the environmental perception of ebooks; perhaps how people perceive “reading a lot” is not comparable. People who already are environmentally very sensitive in their buying decision with regards to traditional books, are also environmentally sensitive in their buying decision with regards to ebooks  the possible environmental aspect of ebooks would be an important buying criterion for them

50. Some general conclusions and thoughts If eReaders and eBooks are to be at better environmental option than ordinary books, the production of eReaders as well as user behavior is important. The most common after having read a book was to store it in the bookshelf. Maybe less environmental impact from the book market if we switched books with each other and/or borrowed more books at the library. Potentially this could perhaps be more environmentally preferable than the evolution of the eReader and eBooks. As paper production is an important part of environmental impact from the traditional book market, an increase in usage of recycled paper could lower the environmental impact. eReaders are more environmentally preferable if you read a lot on it. As the market develops and more books, magazines and newspapers for eReaders appear, the environmental advantages of eReaders and eBooks might increase.