Espresso Book Machine
The Espresso Book Machine (EBM) is a print on demand (POD) machine that prints, collates, covers, and binds a single book in a few minutes. A single machine can cost from $75,000.[1]
The EBM is small enough to fit in a retail book store or small library room, and as such it is targeted at retail and library markets. The EBM can potentially allow readers to obtain any book title, even books that are out of print. The machine takes as input a PDF file and prints, binds, and trims the reader’s selection as a paperback book.[2][3]
History
Jason Epstein, veteran editor of such writers as Norman Mailer, Philip Roth and Gore Vidal, gave a series of lectures in 1999 in which he reflected on his experiences in publishing. Epstein mentioned in his speech that a future was possible in which customers would be able print an out-of-stock title on the spot, if a book-printing machine could be made that would fit in a store. At the time, Jeff Marsh, a St Louis engineer and inventor, had already constructed a prototype book printer that could both photocopy and book-bind. A friend of Marsh, present on one of the lectures, informed Epstein. The editor together with Dane Neller, former President and CEO of Dean and Deluca, licensed Marsh's invention and founded On Demand Books.[3][4]
The first EBM
The first Espresso Book Machine was installed and demonstrated June 21 2007 at the New York Public Library’s Science, Industry and Business Library. For a month, the public was allowed to test the machine by printing free copies of such public domain classics as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and “Songs of Innocence” by William Blake. The public domain titles were provided by the Open Content Alliance (OCA), a non-profit organization with a database of over 200,000 titles.[2]
Economic consequences
The direct-to-consumer model of the EBM eliminates shipping, warehousing, returns and pulping of unsold books, and allows simultaneous global availability[3] of millions of new and backlist titles. These characteristics may in the future lower prices to consumers and libraries, and allow greater royalties and profits to authors and publishers.[2]
Locations
In North America:
Beta versions of the EBM are placed at the World Bank Infoshop in Washington, DC and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.[2]
Additional EBMs were made available to the public in the fall of 2007 at the New Orleans Public Library, the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont and the Open Content Alliance in San Francisco.[2]
An EBM has been installed at the University of Alberta, Titles McMaster University Bookstore, University of Waterloo Bookstore[5] and at the University of Michigan Shapiro Undergraduate Library[6] .
In Australia:
In September 2008, the first Espresso Book Machine in a retail commercial setting anywhere in the world was installed at Angus & Robertson in Melbourne, Australia by the Central Book Services / DA Group.
In the UK:
In September 2008, the first Espresso Book Machine was installed in the UK. Newsstand, a London based company, uses the machinery to print single copy book runs for publishers and authors.
In April 2009, an Espresso Book Machine was installed with great fanfare in the Charing Cross Road branch of Blackwell's book store in London. Blackwell's also announced that they plan to install the machine across their 60 UK stores.[7] .
See also
References
- ^ As of September 2009. See "Google turns scanned books back into paper", by Alexei Oreskovic, Reuters. September 17, 2009
- ^ a b c d e "First Espresso Book Machine Installed and Demonstrated at New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library". PR Web. 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- ^ a b c "End of the line for books?". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ About ODB: History, OnDemandBooks.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Bookstore Print on Demand". University of Waterloo. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Arrival of Espresso Book Machine". University of Michigan. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Flood, Alison. "Blackwell's unveils Espresso Book Machine - any title printed while you wait". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
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