Bookmachine self-contained printer

Yet another technology that could potentially render actual bookstores obsolete, the Book Machine is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. A user browses through books by "author, title, subject matter or publisher." Once they have made a selection the book text is sent to the machine via satellite and the whole thing is printed out in standard-format softcover in three to five minutes, basically turning the whole book browsing and purchasing process into an ATM transaction. This kinda solves a lot of problems posed by the current model, (nothing really ever goes out of print, since it's all digitally stored on a server somewhere) without ebook "problems" such as DRM, piracy and the fact that an ebook still isn't a "book" but seems kind of radical for either book purists or publishers to get behind.

[Via TRFJ]

[Evan Wired @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

http://www.bookmachine.com/machine.html

[Permanent4 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Isn't this device similar to the one-off CD-burning kiosks that have never caught on in music stores? What makes anyone think this would work in a book store?

[Junyo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Cause you don't put it in a bookstore. You put it in WalMart, the post office, or convenience stores, or any other place where people have to go for other stuff and can combine tasks. Online order/queue system, send the books to any machine, email/SMS when your order's complete. Stop by Wawa's to get gas and pick up the books you need for next semester. Parents can pick up the kids school books and clothes during one trip to WalMart. It doesn't work in bookstores; it obsoletes bookstores for all but the most hardcore bibliophiles. It also obsoletes publishing houses, since any yahoo that can get his book into the system can self publish for virtually nothing, so watch the publishing industry get all RIAA on their ass if this concept starts to take root.

[Permanent4 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

What happens when your order is delayed for a couple of days because the guy behind the Wawa counter didn't notice that paper jam, or that the toner ran out 7 hours ago? What happens to the college kids who try to sell back their used books, only to discover that their bookstore doesn't do buybacks anymore and instead goes through acres of trees by unnecessarily printing out new books every year? How many textbooks really need to be updated every four months?

I like new ideas and new technologies as much as the next Engadget reader, but I have sincere doubts that this machine will obsolete anything. There's a reason stores like B&N and Borders are so popular, and it has little to do with publishing on demand.

[Erick @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

I bought a book today, and I was purposefully looking for it. For that, a machine would be okay. I bought a second book today because it was near the book I was looking for and it looked interesting. I buy quite a few books as the result of browsing. It would be hard to browse in a store that only had a machine ready to print the book that I know I want. I think the machine is good idea for printing books that a bookstore doesn't want to carry. It's a *great* idea for out-of-print books. But, I still like walking through a bookstore and browsing.

[Larry Seltzer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

If this thing actually works then publishers will have to change, but they don't go away. Joe Schmoe can't edit his own book; he may not be able to put it in proper form for the device; and he sure can't market it. Without any marketing nobody will know to order Joe's book.

[Laird Popkin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

The cost of print-on-demand is much, much higher than the cost of a mass-printed book. So I think that things will play out quite well for bookstores, to the point where these could end up a standard component in any decent bookstore, to allow them to have access to an extended inventory of less popular books that they couldn't afford to stock otherwise.

This means that _any_ bookstore will have an infinite inventory, which will be immense value to anyone who doesn't live in a major city. Of course, you're in NY you can go to Strand, etc., and that's a wonderful thing, but if you're in Winston-Salem, NC there's no bookstore with "miles and miles of shelves" so you're better off with a bookstore that can print-on-demand anything you can imagine.

So yes, print-on-demand quality isn't as good, and yes, the costs are higher, and browsing isn't as easy. But wouldn't you rather be able to get what you want than not?

[Andy Triboletti @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Larry, I think you'll be surprised at how irrelevent publishers will become in the next 10 years. If you make a living in the publishing business, I'd run fast.

Joe Schmoe certainly can market things. Have you ever been to Amazon and seen their customer reviews? I don't give a crap what randomhouse tells me about a book, but I do put alot of faith in the collective reviews of my peers.

PS: I'm talking about the 'dinosaur' publishers. O'Reilly, and (I'm sure others) get it.

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

This machine would solve the problem of that it is not cost-effective to print small numbers of books. Virtually all books are printed in large quantities (multiples of 10,000 or so), most of which are remaindered or destroyed at the end of the year when they don't sell.

With this machine, an author could create a book with limited appeal, because they don't need to print and sell 10,000 copies. Instead, it sits on a server and is printed on demand.

Still doesn't solve the problems of editing and marketing the book though...I foresee a lot of crap being published. ;)

[Don @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

I think these will be great for bookstores. First, yes, I think the stores should still carry books on the shelves - BUT, only 1 copy of each book, and that copy is not for sale, but for "browsing". Behind the books are tags with all the info (maybe barcoded or magstriped) for printing. This way the store can carry *more* books (no wasted shelf space on multiple copies), never be 'out of stock' - and heck, if a shelf-copy gets too dogeared, they just print a new one!

So, you grab your tag for the book you want, after having flipped through it, read a little, etc, you take the tag to the counter, hand it over to a tech (someone to run it, clear jams, etc), and then go sit down for a cup of coffee while you wait for your book to be produced. I think it will be the new model for bookstores.

[William @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

I used to edit a magazine, and I can tell you that the average person's writing abilities are horrible; even assuming they can express their ideas clearly, the spelling and grammar are probably screwy. I wouldn't want to pay money for any book that hasn't been cleared by a competant editor.

[Jimi Goethe @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Not that I care about trees all that much, but i'd prefer to utilize today's technology (not suped up printers), and read my books via laptop.

Seems like this device might be good for do-it-yourself publishers.

[John Daid felt @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Right! Right! Right! Matt.

Where this is a huge win is with the small presses and the authors. As someone who has seen publishers at work (my S.O. has published one book and has 3 oozing through the major publishers) let me tell you this-

They should be scared. The publishing industry is bloated fat and runs completely on whims. It is ripe for a restructuring of SOME kind.

Unless you are a "MAJOR AUTHOR" you get very, very little from your publisher.

To give an analgous situation look at what an indie artist with a head for business does in the music industry. Ani DiFranco is both owner and main artist with her Righteous Babe records. She makes more per album and more in general than all but the biggest music artist. She does this by running her own show. She can run her own show because of the nature of producing music. Digital media (cd's) are cheap to produce.

Until this (or something very much like it) there has been nothling like that capability in publishing. Although the Zerox DocuTech made the first strike.

With this tool small run presses can distribute via the same means as the big boys (read amazon) and take charge with their own marketing efforts, for example giving a book signing at a local small bookstore BRINGING THE BOOKS with them and then selling them at the signing and leaving them for the bookseller.

Small publishing WILL become a reality and the publishing industry will have to deal with many of the same issues that the music industy is dealing with.

This or something like it could be the breakthough.

And YES alot of crappy books will be produced but exactly HOW is that different than today?


jdf

[Bob Weston @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

If it lets me set the type size so that I can get more words per page(and hence fewer pages) then I'd be in hog heaven. I just got a paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and it's 956 pages of large print and more than a little unwieldy.

[Laird Popkin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Unless print on demand's costs drop dramatically, it won't displace pre-printed books. A hardcover book might cost $3-5 to print (depending on whether it's got a color cover, etc.), vs. more like $10 for printing the same book (with a cheaper cover) on demand. So if you know you're going to sell lots of copies of a book, it makes much more sense to print it in bulk and ship it to stores. If you're going to sell 50 copies of a book, you'd rather pay $300 for them rather than $1,000. :-)

Also, people can buy pre-printed books faster than they can buy print-on-demand. That is, you can browse a store and pick up books to buy faster than you can click around a computer screen ordering prints, then waiting 3-5 minutes per book for them to print.

Don't get me wrong -- I think that print on demand is a wonderful thing. But I don't think it's ready to displace mass production yet. But it is ready to displace back catalog. :-)

[JdPink @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

While these may find limited use in bookstores, convenience stores, etc, the real market for them are those little book kiosks at airports. You know the ones that stock Clancy, Grisham, and the Da Vinci Code, but not much else. An expanded selection in these stores helps everyone.

[davidwr @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

1) small print runs, including books of local or niche interest

2) out of print books - no book need ever be out of print again

3) small bookstores and gift shops, such as those in airports and hospitals

4) short-cycle-time books with unpredictable selling patterns, such as this week's upcoming report by the "9/11 commission," available for $10 in bookstores. This would be an idea book since stores would only need to order 1-2 copies and print more immediately as they sold the ones on the shelves.

5) bookstores in remote or hard-to-reach areas

6) "novelty press" - I create a book and family members from all over the country can go and buy my book at their local bookstore and tell me how good it is, while they secretly donate it to their local library's book sale, unread.

As far as mass-published books go, yes, it's still cheaper per copy to mass-produce a book than to print it on demand, and most people like fancy covers.

[Bill Stewart @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

I realize that the price of a print-on-demand book is going to be driven by the amount the Intellectual Property Owner wants to charge, and by the amount the bookstore wants to charge for the service. But what's the actual incremental cost of printing a book, and what's the rough cost of the machinery? Obviously a $100,000 machine is going to have a big influence on your business model (small bookstores may not have enough business to afford it, but small press companies might), and obviously the cost of the machinery depends a lot on how many they sell (selling one to every Kinko's would drop the price a lot.) But roughly, is the printing cost $5? $10? $2?

[Bill Stewart @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Another nice thing about this system, if the price is right, is the ability to do LARGE PRINT BOOKS on demand. As all of us Baby Boomers get old, we're starting to need reading glasses, and if my experience shopping for books for my mother continues to hold up, the selection of books in large print is pretty lame - not even 10% of what's in the bookstore, and mostly either Readers Digest selections or kids' picture books. It'd be nice to be able to print anything you wanted in LARGE BOLD TYPE even if the store only carries it in paperback.

My mom's birthday is this week, and I haven't seen any of those machines around here - maybe next year :-)

[George @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

If the machine can only print 100 books or so per day, it's not going to replace a bookstore's inventory. As others have noted, it's much more likely that it will serve customers seeking books that are not stocked. If a small store can afford one, it may help them to compete with the megastores and online booksellers by offering instant gratification.

Bob Weston says he'd like it if he can get a book printed in smaller type on fewer pages. I suspect there is also a market for large-print versions of books that would not normally be published in that format, and it should be trivial to make this possible with the book machine.

A store that wants to serve blind customers might get a book machine with a Braille printer; suddenly anything available to sighted readers can be produced in Braille.

I notice that the machine has a separate color printer for the covers. It would be even better if the color printer were able to print color pages that can be intermixed and bound together with ordinary pages. Think of art books, illustrated manuals, and nature guides in which a few color illustrations can make a big difference. The print-on-demand industry doesn't currently offer a reasonably priced way to print such books.

I hope the machine will be able to produce books with lay-flat bindings (particularly useful for sheet music and cookbooks).

Foreign language books, which are unobtainable in much of the US, could be made available everywhere at fair prices.

Printing periodicals should be as easy as printing books, although (because of the time required) it's not likely to replace the typical newstand's inventory of popular periodicals. Out-of-town newspapers and back issues of periodicals, on the other hand, could be made readily available.

These are just a few of many niche markets that are poorly served by conventional publishers, markets in which the book machine can have a positive impact and pay its own way.

[Laird Popkin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

"the price of a print-on-demand book is going to be driven by the amount the Intellectual Property Owner wants to charge"

The author gets paid relatively little of the cost of the book. For a typical hardcover book the author makes 10-15% of the cover price -- they make much, much less on paperbacks. The physical cost of printing the book, and the shipping costs, are much more than the payment to the author. And, of course, there's the absurd business of publishers accepting returns for full credit, which encourages bookstores to over-order and return, which just drives up costs for everyone...

The last time I looked, the cost for print on demand (last time I looked) was around $2 for the binding (perfect bound, with heavy glossy paper), and 3-5 cents/page. This means that a 200 page book would cost around $10 to print. Of course, the author and the bookstore would both want a markup (or they wouldn't bother), so perhaps that book would be $15-20?

So, I agree with davidwr's analysis -- it fits some great niches. Putting machines in bookstores is a great advance, actually -- the companies that do print on demand now use central printing facilities, and have to charge for shipping the document to the customer (unless you live near one of them). So, the cost equation is getting better.

[Kent Tubman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

William's note above reinforces the need for a competent editor.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/6943941173884616/#c13153

[Jovan @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Do you know what would it mean to countries like Malta, Belarus, Iceland, Georgia... ? Getting the freshest from US/EU without having to pay 30-70 USD / shipment to DHL or UPS... This could be important even more to the Aftican Countries...

But the question is the content - would "large" publishers be interested in such VSAT distribution scheme and what would be the wholesale prices for the books (layout and text)...

Would this machine be able to press on cheaper paper and make available changes to the sizes (i.e. smaller fonts, pocket sized books, moving the color pictures to a special annex...)...

Can't wait to see what happens next :)

[Christopher J Neill @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

As I too have purchased many books that I wanted to read, I have also purchased, probably half as many because I was browsing, and on a quick read, was interesting enough to buy. How many purchases are made by browsing; percentage? That could be a compelling enough arguement for the book stores, publishers and authors, to try to keep this type of technology out of the main stream.

[Roy Corey @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

Ok, I agree that this would be a poor replacement for a bookstore and it's not meant to be. But at the airport...

At the airport people are used to spending more for a product, and are often stranded or delayed and have time to kill. They could buy a copy of the top selling blah blah novel at the bookstand there, or they could pay a little extra and get the book that they really wanted to read. I think this has potential at the airport and other niches.

[Branko Collin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

The Internet Archive runs several Internet Bookmobiles, most of them in the US. This is a sort of bookmachine on wheels. Unfortunately, their webpages are not very up-to-date, or you would be able to see the sort of books they print the most. You can request the bookmobile to pay a visit to your town.

http://www.archive.org/texts/bookmobile.php

[Joanne Hoefer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

I did not see any price for machine, its upkeep, nor average cost per book. Anyone have any idea?

[Andy G @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

What about short run books on demand, like software manuals? For example, my firm produces several software manuals, one at 225 pages, and several others much shorter.

We're looking into alternate means of publishing and this seems interesting as it could also be used by marketing.

AG

[Joanne Hoefer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:39AM]

I didn't see cost of machine nor the average price per book to produce nor est of upkeep.
Just wondering