Comments on: Sometimes I Can Resist: Ecosystem Notebooks at B&N

By: Nifty

Nifty — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:27:35 +0000

I do agree that the intentions are noble, even if the way they are expressed is off-putting! Ecosystem has since sent me a sample and I’ll be doing a full review soon.

By: david bogie

david bogie — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:27:36 +0000

Hype-schmype, it’s just marketing but it’s not like they’re lying about anything.
i received one of the lined pocket-sized nits for xmas. It’s a killer little notebook, I’ve got no complaints, yet, but I don’t have any valid observations yet, either. I’ve got to work through Leuchtturm and WhiteLines notebooks before attacking the ecosystem.
I’m in the energy business, my company supplies electricity to most of Idaho. We’re about 60% hydro-based with coal- and gas-fired generation filling the seasonal and demand gaps. I am asked often about wind and solar and why we don’t have huge supplies of these resources online (we have all we can handle but are seeking future suppliers). The answers are supremely complex and most folks don’t have the patience for the political reality and physics lectures so I just ask them how they’d like to fund the development of renewable resources (hydro is about $0.04/kWh, renewables can cost more than ten times that but we have residential rates under $0.08/kWh, on whose property they should be built (wind and solar farms are H-U-G-E), and across whose land we should build the transmission lines (at about $1.2 million/mile).
Recycled paper products are stupidly expensive and, as bookinator indicated, difficult (and even more expensive) to manufacture into viable products that have market appeal. Your newspapers, cardboard boxes, and your reams of wasted laser printer output are being turned into cool little notebooks right here in the US of A by brave entrepreneurs hoping to make some real money while satisfying a niche. Ignore the marketing. Try the product. Buy at least one of their books even it’s just to see if you can stand to use it.

david boise ID

By: mark

mark — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:59:03 +0000

I was so put off by the marketing bilge, that I left them right where I found them. Even though I was inclined to support the US made notebooks.

I’ve found that the Picadilly’s are just great for the money. I bought a pile of them, use around 3-4 of the small hardcover notebooks a year…so it’s cost effective.

By: TheBookinator

TheBookinator — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:54:19 +0000

From my understanding, there are more styles, colors and sizes coming in the future. I think the product’s designer said the line went from design to market in something like 9 months.

In the factory I’m in, we had to redesign a bunch of processes and machines to accommodate all natural materials and 100% recycled paper … the stuff simply does not behave the same way as the materials we have used for the last 100+ years … not difficult, but different.

We continue to improve the processes involved to make the product go together better and easier.

I hope all of you can find a style that suits your needs and all of us who worked on making this product thank you for your support.

By: catherine

catherine — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:53:50 +0000

As Steve & Stephen say, the eco angle is enough, the rest just makes me think they are trying WAY to hard and don’t have a clue. Fully deserving of your comment, “makes me want to barf AND run over Bambi with a Hummer” – I love that, laughed out loud.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:13:02 +0000

I’m perfectly aware that the marketing is distinct from the product but if the company wants to put it together it can suck it up and take the lost sale if they get the marketing wrong and if it’s breathless and forgets that it’s blank paper in a cover then it’s got it wrong. It’s already got the “eco friendly” (the trees didn’t feel a thing) label, the carbon footprint lookup, the serial number/finder service so why does it need vapid prose too?

I think Steve is right to say it’s good to support local business in hard times but that doesn’t mean propping companies that do business things badly, like marketing. That’s life support, not business. I don’t agree that most companies overdo marketing because you can’t get by by putting customers off very long.

I like the definition of artist – “an individual who utilizes their imagination to produce works that are beautiful and kind to the earth.” Yeah, now explain oil based paint.

By: dowdyism

dowdyism — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:19:22 +0000

I have had the gridded cahier version sitting in my backpack for a month now, but haven’t set pen to paper yet. I’m interested to try it out and I’ll be sure to post a review.

By: Nifty

Nifty — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:54:37 +0000

Good to know that these notebooks have many redeeming qualities! Maybe I was just being too grumpy!

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:31:14 +0000

I agree the marketing is a bit much, but so are most companies. I am glad I tried one of these, as the paper is excellent and takes any ink I throw at it, including fountain pen. The only other notebook with as good paper (actually, a touch better) is the Rhodia Webnotebook, but that one has smaller pagers (same size book) and costs $6 more. So far the construction has proven to be better than my experience with Moleskine and the perforated pages are quite secure, but nice to have when you need a spare piece of paper to give to someone. I had low expectation when I tried these but they now seem to me the best option available.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:00:54 +0000

Saw them at B&N and bought a small hard cover book. I agree, the eco stuff is marketing b.s. and is way overdone. Compared to the Moleskine, the Ecosystem book is thicker but has the same number of pages. The cover is thicker and stiffer and covered with a plastic material which seems tough and water resistant. The pages are heavier thicker paper. My only gripe is that they are microperfed and I fear that they may tear out easily. The elastic band is much sturdier and more durable than the mole. The page marker ribbon is a little to thick and heavy. Overall, it has potential to compete with the mole and seems a good product as long as you can stomach the marketing nonsense.