A story I’ve been tracking with interest for some time now is the development of the (EBM). Way back when I was in library school, there was some buzz about “print-on-demand” as a technology that could up-end the publishing and book retailing industries and libraries as we know them but, 10 years later, there’s been little of substance to show for this until now, largely due to the technical issues relating to binding.
OnDemandBooks LLC, however, is now starting to make some waves with what it claims is the world’s first low-cost, totally automatic book machine.
Essentially an ABM for books, the EBM prints, binds and trims a library-quality paperback from a digital file in under 10 minutes. The venture is backed by legendary Random House editorial director Jason Epstein and former Dean & DeLuca CEO Dane Neller, with initial funding from the Alfred P Sloan Foundation, and was piloted this year in three locations: New York’s Science, Industry, and Business Library, the World Bank’s InfoShop in Washington, and the Bibliotecha Alexandrina (the modern version of the famous Library of Alexandria). Future locations will include the University of Alberta, according to an OnDemandBooks press release.
Content is currently sourced from Google Books and the Open Content Alliance (the latter encompasses some 200,000 titles) but plans are afoot to negotiate licenses with mainstream publishers as well. Machines will cost in the neighbourhood of $100,000USD, with a typical cost per page printed of three cents.
While press reports suggest that the Espresso Book Machine will be initially targeted at North America’s bookstores and public libraries, it’s interesting to think about the EBM’s broader social benefits as well. As this blog post and comments from the World Bank’s Poverty & Growth Blog suggest, the EBM’s potential to facilitate knowledge sharing between developed and developing nations and to expand and supplement existing public library systems around the world is impressive.
Starbooks, here we come!
Helen Kula sources and delivers market data and intelligence to entrepreneurs, high-growth companies and MaRS staff and advisors. She is an active member of Toronto’s information professional and librarian communities.
