General Discussion

eppur_se_muova

(36,269 posts) Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:43 AM Jul 2012

This is great ! I've been waiting 30+ yrs for someone to build these machines ...

http://www.powells.com/bookmachine/

16 replies

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This is great ! I've been waiting 30+ yrs for someone to build these machines ... (Original Post) eppur_se_muova Jul 2012 OP

okay dude, kinda big isnt it. loli phabay Jul 2012 #1

it's not for the home office.....LOL n/t grasswire Jul 2012 #2

ah ok was wondering why and were you would put it. loli phabay Jul 2012 #4

Is this an updated version DFW Jul 2012 #3

Books On Demand has a nice demo video salvorhardin Jul 2012 #5

Thanks for that link ! eppur_se_muova Jul 2012 #7

The big sticking point until very recently was the binding salvorhardin Jul 2012 #15

For a **long** time now, I've been wishing to see vending machines ... eppur_se_muova Jul 2012 #16

Looks like a Rube Goldberg contraption! MADem Jul 2012 #6

Amazing however AsahinaKimi Jul 2012 #8

Maybe mashed potatoes and gravy instead ? nt eppur_se_muova Jul 2012 #9

oh no! AsahinaKimi Jul 2012 #12

At the Flintridge bookstore in my town ... Kablooie Jul 2012 #13

I've got one right down the street. Kablooie Jul 2012 #10

I'm curious, are you excited to use it to buy OOP books to read or help sell books you've written? TeamPooka Jul 2012 #11

Either, apparently. nt eppur_se_muova Jul 2012 #14

loli phabay

(5,580 posts)

1. okay dude, kinda big isnt it.

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Original post)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:45 AM

Jul 2012

grasswire

(50,130 posts)

2. it's not for the home office.....LOL n/t

Reply to loli phabay (Reply #1)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:46 AM

Jul 2012

loli phabay

(5,580 posts)

4. ah ok was wondering why and were you would put it.

Reply to grasswire (Reply #2)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:51 AM

Jul 2012

DFW

(54,408 posts)

3. Is this an updated version

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Original post)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:49 AM

Jul 2012

...of Paul Simon's Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine?I'm sue it does SOMETHING, anyway......

salvorhardin

(9,995 posts)

5. Books On Demand has a nice demo video

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Original post)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:56 AM

Jul 2012

Fortune had a nice article back in May about a bookstore owner who's using it to remain competitive with Amazon.

The Man Who Took on Amazon and Saved a Bookstore

Jeff Mayersohn, the new owner, elicited my sympathy, but I also wanted to get to know him. I respected his mission, even if I didn’t quite believe in its future. So, Jeff shocked me a couple of weeks ago, when he told me with a certain amount of pride and pleasure that he has been seeing double digit sales growth month by month over the last year.

I wanted to know how he managed to survive, let alone prosper, in the age of e-readers and the mighty Amazon. Over coffee, Jeff shared his original insight that led to his strategy for buying the store.

A former technology executive with a passion for reading and books, Jeff saw – like everyone else – that the digitization of content was destroying the neighborhood bookstore.

Imagine for a moment what it would feel like if people walked into your company and used the lobby to call your competitors and buy their products. That’s standard consumer behavior in a bookstore. People browse, find a book they like, pull out their smart phone, and order online.

Making an intuitive leap, Jeff wondered if the opposite could be true? Maybe access to the vast universe of digital content could also save the bookstore. Maybe the bookstore, while limited in inventory, could evolve in the digital world and become a destination where people had access to every digitized book ever published.

Full article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/philjohnson/2012/05/10/the-man-who-took-on-amazon-and-saved-a-bookstore/

eppur_se_muova

(36,269 posts)

7. Thanks for that link !

Reply to salvorhardin (Reply #5)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:20 AM

Jul 2012

I remember the idea of printing a book directly from an electronic file occured to me back around 1980, when I learned that laser printers used lasers to create images digitally, rather than projecting images of existing pages. Also, Scientific American published on article stating that most magazines were already being printed that way (big news to me!). I figured books-on-demand was the next logical step, but actually people just started reading the electronic files on-screen instead ... :\

salvorhardin

(9,995 posts)

15. The big sticking point until very recently was the binding

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Reply #7)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 09:15 AM

Jul 2012

We just didn't have small, reliable robotics to do the binding. Even the 1st version of the Espresso Book Machine (I think that's the photo you posted) required the binding to be done by hand. I don't know, but I suspect, that the Japanese vending machine market was responsible for driving the demand for the miniaturization of robotics to the point where the entire bindery process can take place in the volume of a large end table.

eppur_se_muova

(36,269 posts)

16. For a **long** time now, I've been wishing to see vending machines ...

Reply to salvorhardin (Reply #15)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:03 PM

Jul 2012

selling potboiler paperbacks and pop CD's. Let store staff spend their time on less mundane things.

MADem

(135,425 posts)

6. Looks like a Rube Goldberg contraption!

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Original post)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 01:56 AM

Jul 2012

A giant GPS, an oven, a xeroxer-gas bbq--a paper shredder and a computer, all rolled into one!

AsahinaKimi

(20,776 posts)

8. Amazing however

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Original post)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:22 AM

Jul 2012

I thought there might be a cup of espresso to go with it ... Cool idea though!

eppur_se_muova

(36,269 posts)

9. Maybe mashed potatoes and gravy instead ? nt

Reply to AsahinaKimi (Reply #8)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:23 AM

Jul 2012

AsahinaKimi

(20,776 posts)

12. oh no!

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Reply #9)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:25 AM

Jul 2012

Every Bookstore I ever went to, always had a coffee machine and a place to sit, drink coffee and read your newly purchased book!
I miss Borders... and other places like that!

Kablooie

(18,634 posts)

13. At the Flintridge bookstore in my town ...

Reply to AsahinaKimi (Reply #8)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:29 AM

Jul 2012

The espresso book machine is right next to the coffee Bar so essentially it does go with it.

Kablooie

(18,634 posts)

10. I've got one right down the street.

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Original post)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:23 AM

Jul 2012

http://www.flintridgebooks.com/

Scroll down to the bottom of the web page.
They can print from Gutenburg and Google books too.
Even out of print books as long as the publisher has signed up with the expresso company.

TeamPooka

(24,229 posts)

11. I'm curious, are you excited to use it to buy OOP books to read or help sell books you've written?

Reply to eppur_se_muova (Original post)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:25 AM

Jul 2012

eppur_se_muova

(36,269 posts)

14. Either, apparently. nt

Reply to TeamPooka (Reply #11)

Sun Jul 22, 2012, 02:30 AM

Jul 2012

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