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kaceetheconsumer

June 30, 2009 2:24 PM

@Rectilinear Propagation: Oh that'd be awesome for all craft and cooking books. I asked a publisher who was courting me for a knitting book once if we could have it spiral-bound, and she agreed that she wanted it that way too but said the publisher would never go for it because of cost. Feh.

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HiPwr

June 30, 2009 1:44 PM

@Rectilinear Propagation: Yes, spiral bound would be a kick-ass option.

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grendyll

June 30, 2009 1:32 PM

This seems to be a really great idea, as long as you aren't a collector looking for first editions, of course.

Personally, I prefer a real book over digital media. There's something personal and intimate about turning pages manually, something that's lost in translation to \"digital-ness\", IMHO.

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Nick1693

June 30, 2009 5:15 PM

@grendyll: Well if the machine could connect to the internet and print real time publishing numbers on a page...

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crymson777

June 30, 2009 5:11 PM

@grendyll: Wholeheartedly agree. The biggest problem I see with the \"digital transition\" in this case is battery power. You don't have to charge a book made of paper to read it...

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FigNinja

June 30, 2009 6:44 PM

@crymson777:

Though with a low power screen like eInk, you only have to charge once every week or two. It's a pretty negligible effort.

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PeachesDelux

June 30, 2009 1:33 PM

first, northshire is a great bookstore -- maybe one of the best. they're always packed, too, unlike many (most?) bookstores these days. the staff is incredibly helpful and knowledgable, and they have a surprising number of first-rate authors come through.

second, the espresso seems potentially incredibly cool. smaller bookstores being able to compete, sock-wise, with bigger bookstores, or even with amazon? kind of awesome. and better access to rare or out-of-print books? awesomer still.

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Robert Synnott

June 30, 2009 5:20 PM

@PeachesDelux: It probably wouldn't be economical for printing the average mass-market paperback, but it would be brilliant for unusual or out-of-print stuff.

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FigNinja

June 30, 2009 6:46 PM

@Robert Synnott:

If the world moves more toward ebooks and reading on screens, this is a good way to scale back the print business. Large printing concerns may eventually become unsustainable but the demand for print won't entirely go away.

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SlayBelle

June 30, 2009 2:58 PM

@PeachesDelux: I would like to second the love for the Northshire. Its hands down the best bookstore I've been in the united states. Excellent staff, awesome selection, and their used book arm usually has some gems.

I think I need to take a nerd road trip up to see this giant machine.

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June 30, 2009 1:35 PM

Hey Boston Globe, you're like 3 years behind the times. I remember this debuting a LONG time ago. I remember thinking it was a good idea back then, especially for smaller book stores. IIRC, there was a lot of talk about the titles leaking onto the internet back then, as many books weren't available in digital form.

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mmmsoap

June 30, 2009 3:16 PM

@SeniorPonzologist_GitEmSteveDave: I remember when this debuted as well, but you're missing a couple of points here.

A) It's not been seen in the wild much, and
B) This is the first one in the wild in New England, that I've heard of. (Yes, I live here.)

Those are certainly newsworthy points, and the article itself will probably encourage more people to trek over there to check it out.

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June 30, 2009 3:20 PM

@mmmsoap: Trek to New England? You mean, I'll have to cross Benny Country? I don't think so.

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Hoss

June 30, 2009 2:07 PM

@WearingBlue4BillyMays_GitEmSteveDave: A print newspaper that's behind the times? You don't say...

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MauriceCallidice

June 30, 2009 2:17 PM

@Hoss: If only there was some new medium of communication which was constantly being updated with fresh content by a large number of users, readily accessible through billions of connections around the world.

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VOIDMunashii

June 30, 2009 1:39 PM

This seems like a great way to find more obscure books instead of having to special order them, and potentially a way for new authors to get books to an audience too small for traditional publishers to take an interest in.

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Hoss

June 30, 2009 1:47 PM

Seemed like a great business concept until seeing the video. Too slow, too many moving parts to break down, and takes up too much space. Seems like a low labor machine, but physically moving a book through computer sensors must mean a lot of adjustments and downtime with malfunctions.

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ophmarketing

June 30, 2009 3:12 PM

@Hoss: Also, the pages aren't printed and bound in signatures. They're just loose pages with a slap of glue along one edge. That's fine for a mass market paperback, but this production method pretty much guarantees that the books it produces will not be of long-lasting quality. Pass.

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floraposte

June 30, 2009 3:33 PM

@ophmarketing: Though I agree, it's worth noting that \"perfect binding\" (as the glued version is known) turns up in some mighty strange and expensive places, including Harry Potters and, idiotically, cookbooks.

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catastrophegirl chooses not to fly

June 30, 2009 2:12 PM

@Hoss: even if you had to wait an hour it's still faster than waiting for shipping or spending months hunting down an out of print title. i'd be all for being able to special order a book, go get some lunch, come back and pick it up. or even call ahead to the store and be told my order will be printed by the next afternoon instead of waiting anywhere from 3-15 days [media mail]

and it seems like it takes up a lot less space than a couple of pallets of books that might or might not sit in the store for 6 months

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Hoss

June 30, 2009 3:13 PM

@catastrophegirl - Just seems that if Kinkos charges say 15 cents a page for a copy process that is much simpler, with fewer maintenance issues and is much faster (and keeps a profit of say 10%), then the base per page cost of this thing without profit would must be around 15 cents per page (in theory). That's $30 base cost for a 200 page soft cover book. I can't see how something that can do about 10 books an hour could be profitable.

But I do see the attraction

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catastrophegirl chooses not to fly

June 30, 2009 3:49 PM

@Hoss: $30 for an out of print title of some books is a fantastic deal - i think for me it would depend on the book.

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smirkette

June 30, 2009 2:55 PM

@catastrophegirl - just add kittens: Yeah, I mean, you could always, I don't know, read a book while you wait?

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cash_da_pibble

June 30, 2009 4:32 PM

@smirkette:
+2 for you, mi'lady.

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Smashville

June 30, 2009 1:47 PM

I was driving down the road the other day...and I saw a store that was like a giant Kindle...they already had the books printed and bound for you...all you had to do was go in, find the book you wanted...and then buy it. Of course, the selection was slightly more limited than the Internets.

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YourTechSupport

June 30, 2009 3:10 PM

@Smashville: And the books were somehow cheaper than the Kindle version. And after you read the book, you could donate it to the library, give it to a friend, or prop up that wobbly coffee table.

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FigNinja

June 30, 2009 6:48 PM

@YourTechSupport:

They had new release hardbacks for $9.99? I doubt it.

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craigkay

June 30, 2009 1:48 PM

You may need a PhD to remove a paperjam from that machine.

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June 30, 2009 3:22 PM

@craigkay:

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ajlei

June 30, 2009 8:40 PM

@SeniorPonzologist_GitEmSteveDave: I know it's not really paper jam related, but Office-Space-wise, this is my most favorite clip:

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YourTechSupport

June 30, 2009 3:07 PM

@craigkay: Problem + Chainsaw = No Problem.

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speedwell (!)

June 30, 2009 1:56 PM

@craigkay: Or about three years experience as a secretary supporting engineers.

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oneandone

June 30, 2009 3:34 PM

@speedwell, avatar of snark: Exactly. The PhDs I worked for were brilliant at bioengineering, but heaven help them if the fax machine jammed.

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Brian James Schend

June 30, 2009 2:10 PM

Out-of-print books, yes. Out-of-print children's books, with all the funny-shaped pages and foldouts and things, alas, no. Magical Changes will continue to cost you an arm and a leg on Amazon.

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CrazyRedd

June 30, 2009 2:12 PM

Am I picking up on a Punk's Not Dead album reference? If so, lol well done!

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kaceetheconsumer

June 30, 2009 2:27 PM

I'd be totally okay if this helped my publishers get things into print faster and more easily available. As long as I get paid fairly, I don't care how distribution works!

But if it's the kind of thing that facilitates illegal swiping of books, then I want it to die. Most authors make precious little per book sold and don't need another way to be ripped off.

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Robert Synnott

June 30, 2009 5:21 PM

@kaceetheconsumer: Ebook readers (Kindle et al) are probably more of a problem there.

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pupu

June 30, 2009 4:25 PM

@kaceetheconsumer: Most authors make precious little per book sold and don't need another way to be ripped off.

I don't think you need to worry - this will knock down the distribution costs to the point that you should expect to sell way more books. If I'm \"on the fence\" about a $30 book I'll put it back. If the same book costs $6 I'll buy it. I think most of the $30 goes to pay for transport and retail shelf space. Another advantage for the writer is that this thing probably makes books that are much less durable than your average paperback. If it falls apart after a few reads it won't get passed around as much.

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Rectilinear Propagation

June 30, 2009 4:16 PM

@kaceetheconsumer: If the store employees keep an eye on what's getting printed it shouldn't be too big of a problem. I would think you'd need their help to get something that's not in their database printed.

Or are you worried about stores making books available without the author's permission?

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outoftheblew

June 30, 2009 2:28 PM

I worked for an office that produced large reports. They had two copy machines that looked similar to this (or even bigger). I don't know what they're called or how they work, but the produce the pages about as fast as you can count (at a normal-fast speed). It only takes a few minutes to produce hundreds of pages, but they're LOUD! A bookstore would need to put them in a separate room, I think.

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JGKojak

June 30, 2009 2:43 PM

The point is that every book published could be stored and then reprinted on demand for cost plus a small fee-- pretty exciting.

I'm sure you miss out on color photo inserts, etc. so some books would not be worth downloading this way- but pure text items/fiction, this would be absolutely great.

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spindle

June 30, 2009 2:51 PM

seeing how I had several boxes of out of print sci-fi books destroyed by water damage, this sounds like an awesome machine. Until the day they make an affordable waterproof kindle for bathtub reading, I'm all about the books.

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YourTechSupport

June 30, 2009 3:08 PM

I'm pretty Megan Fox could ride it. Or just look good sitting on it.

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June 30, 2009 3:22 PM

I wonder if it can print out it's own manual in the off chance you get a paper jam or a PC Load Letter error.

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nato0519

June 30, 2009 3:25 PM

Okay i can't be the only nerd here who wants to know some specs behind this behemoth.

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WelcomeToMyWorld

June 30, 2009 3:36 PM

There are a lot of worthwhile books that are out of print, and it would not be financially feasible to reprint 1,000 books for only a small number of potential buyers. This machine is ideal for that situation.

Since they've taken most of the labor out of it (not touched by union-workers' hands) this machine probably has more profit per book built into the price.

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oneandone

June 30, 2009 3:40 PM

On The Media (on NPR) had a great segment about this in early 2008, which they replayed in November.

Transcript & audio here:
[www.onthemedia.org]

According to that, they're using ultrasonic binding instead of glue. I'm not sure what the video in the Boston Globe says, but maybe there are different versions of the machine.

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I Love New Jersey

June 30, 2009 3:54 PM

It is better than a stupid Kindle, since you get an actual real book at the end.

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PølάrβǽЯ

July 1, 2009 2:06 AM

@Phil Villarreal \"It may not shoot lasers...\"

You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!

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TheUncleBob

June 30, 2009 4:00 PM

I'm interested in pricing (of individual books) and speed...

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RedwoodFlyer

June 30, 2009 4:11 PM

Is the company that makes this thing publicly traded? If so, I need to short their stock. Epic business model fail!

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redkamel

June 30, 2009 4:14 PM

Oh please bring this near me. Im still partial to the old school books, different bindings paperweight etc but this is still great!

question: what about pictures, cover art, etc?

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pupu

June 30, 2009 4:14 PM

This is totally brilliant. It is a great thing for readers - as much more material is going to become available. It may not make sence bottom line wise for a publisher to print a book about stained glass depictions of Owls - because the expected sales would be very low - and retailers would not waste shelf space - but if publishing and distribution suddenly cost next to nothing - the 200 people in the world who love reading about stained glass owls will be able to write, buy, and sell books on the topic! Also, I bet it can be configured to make a large print book, unlike a kindle or sony reader if you leave the book on a plane etc who cares, and you don't need to charge up or to know howw to use \"scary\" technology! I see a day when you can write your stained glass owl book, post it on the net, have it instantly translated into every language spoken on earth, be subject to a review system like on amazon, and get a royalty check for $28 when the 200 people on earth who are interested actually buy it!! (not bad for 6 months work) This is better than the kindle. My grandmother wouldn't even look at somthing like the kindle - if it is more modern that a touch tone phone she is intimidated. My mom would think kindle is cool, possibly even buy it, but it would probably never get used. I would only buy somthing like a Kindle if I knew that I could get basically whatever content I want on it - I don't want to read Oliver Twist - I want to read about stained glass owls!

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dosdelon

June 30, 2009 4:22 PM

Love it!!!!!!!!!!

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pupu

June 30, 2009 4:26 PM

If it is more powerful than 9 out of 10 transformers it could probably take on all the Go-Bots at once and win! SWEEEEEEET