Daily Thoughts 02/17/2012

Hanafuji eijo Print shows Hanafuji Eijo, facing left, sitting, reading.  Between 1801 and 1805.  I just liked the image.


Daily Thoughts 02/17/2012

This morning, I read some more of The Lean Startup.  I am going to pull a quote out of this book that I Found very interesting from P.116.

"The rate of growth depends primarily on three things: the profitability of each customer, the cost of acquiring new customers, and the repeat purchase rate of existing customers."  This shows Eric Ries's focus on customers.

I checked the displays this morning and updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts.  I also checked the gift books and turned in some paperwork.  I am off next week which should provide a nice break.

I spent some time sorting through the paper on my desk and filing things. 

There are two large bags of gift books which I have to check which are a mix of chick lit, mysteries, and romance.  They are all recent books published after 2008 in excellent condition.

The library aides are shifting and shelf reading the oversize books to make things a little more orderly in the stacks so people can find things more easily.

On the way home, I almost finished reading The Lean Startup.  On P.191 and P.192, Eric Ries identifies three tends that are happening in manufacturing. 1. Hardware becoming software, 2. Fast production changes, and 3. 3D printing and rapid prototyping tools.

If we think of 1. Hardware becoming software in the book business, we are seeing how physicals book are increasingly being turned into e-books.  We are also seeing some books being produced only as e-books. 2.  If we think of fast production changes, we realize that books are now written and designed on computers.  It is far quicker to get customer feedback.  Many galleys for books are now electronic only.  Library Journal recently created an alliance with Netgalley.  Also, the e-book can come out before the physical book.  3.  If we think of 3D printing and rapid protoyping, there is an emerging print on demand system for books where people can choose whether they want a paper copy or an electronic copy.

I just downloaded The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life by Robtert Trivers to my home computer.


I took a break from reading tonight and watched some of Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock N' Roll which is a biographical picture about Chuck Berry.  Keith Richards produced the music for the film.  It reminded me a bit of the book, Life by Keith Richards.  I found it to be very relaxing.  I also plan on watching another rock film, Bob Dylan Don't Look Back.