On Demand Books is set to release their print-on- demand “totally automatic book machine” at selected libraries and book stores. The “Espresso” can print and bind paperbacks (limited to 550 pages) in a few minutes, according to their website. The machine costs about $50,000 and according to CNN the NYPL is going to get one this February 2007. Since it downloads the available books through public domain sources like the Open Content Alliance and Google, the content is technically free and the only other cost is the machine and supplies. A penny or two per page is probably the highest they could charge. My take: people will probably love it, publisher’s will love it if it guarantees a revenue stream later down the road for new releases, and most libraries will be ambivilent for years to come.
$50K isthe book budget of some smaller libraries and for some that justs covers the cost of processing books for a year.
CNN / Fortune Small Business article
[Via Engadget]