Several years ago now, my friend Margie McKinley from the University of Michigan sent me a paperback book that had been printed on demand in just a few minutes, with a note that it was one of the first to come off one of the first espresso machines. I’m going to tell you, if she hadn’t told me that, I would have assumed it came from a mass printing, like a traditional book. The video above shows the machine in action. For a longer, more detailed look at how the machine works, watch the video below.
As the fellow in the video says, this puts the means of book distribution into the hands of anyone who can afford one of the machines. With this technology for paper book lovers and e-books for the digitally inclined, will the future of book publishing look anything like the past? Love to hear your thoughts. – Meg
I’m updating this post this morning to include a link to the New York Times live blog of the Amazon Tablet Announcement.
I’m the author of The Wednesday Sisters, a writing group novel and national bestseller, The Language of Light, and The Four Ms. Bradwells. Find more tips on writing on the writers page of my author website.
