4 ms·

New machine prints paperbacks on demand for $8 in four minutes

23 points by rms 17y ago

rms 17y ago
Unanswered is if this has superior print/bind quality compared to existing print on demand solutions.
goodside 17y ago
If you to submit an article that has an uninformative and sensationalized headline like "The World of Book Publishing Is About to Change", please edit it to something more reasonable. In this case, might I suggest "New machine at Harvard prints paperbacks on demand for $8 in four minutes".
- rms 17y ago
  Ok.
- cduan 17y ago
  For that matter, the Harvard Book Store is not part of Harvard University. It is an independent bookstore.
  - Psyonic 17y ago
    If I remember right from my summer in Cambridge, it's basically a rebranded Barnes and Noble, yes?
    - pg 17y ago
      No; you're thinking of the actual HU bookstore, the Coop.
      - Psyonic 17y ago
        Ya that's right, now I remember
jacquesm 17y ago
Interesting! That's cheaper than an amazon 'e-book', and when you're done with it you can give the book away to the next person.
- xiaoma 17y ago
  Yes, but Scribd E-books can be copied in the blink of the eye and without exchanging any money at all.
  - biohacker42 17y ago
    DRM, sure you could copy a book who's copyright has expired, but there have been DRM issues with those too. Also many people, me included, prefer the feel of paper.
ynniv 17y ago
Just a note that this machine is at Harvard Book Store, which is an independent business and not part of Harvard University as the shortened HN title might suggest.
danw 17y ago
My local blackwells has had a similar service for a while. The trouble is they charge more for an on-demand book than an off the shelf one. I've never seen anyone use the service.
- skolor 17y ago
  I remember hearing about this, and was hoping for the price to be about half what it is. This is a great opportunity for physical books, but it won't be all that feasible until the cost for the on-demand books are significantly cheaper.
- felixc 17y ago
  The University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) also has one of these. I'm not sure when it was introduced, but I think it was at the start of this term. Thankfully, it is cheaper than off-the-shelf books (at least the two or three titles I looked at were).
_ck_ 17y ago
Remember how in Babylon5 they would turn in yesterday's printed newspaper to get today's news printed on the recycled pages? I think we are headed that way. Because reading on paper just has a certain handiness to it no matter how sophisticated our portable devices are.
bhrgunatha 17y ago
Does anyone have a link to a video of it at work? I'd like to see it in action.
neuralzen 17y ago
I just helped set one of these up yesterday at a book store(networking, port forwarding, etc.). Its pretty badass, though I haven't seen it in action yet. Its going to access google's scanned books too!
- rms 17y ago
  To answer teilo's question, is it hard to use? Once the IT is set up, can a minimum wage employee reasonably operate the machine?
teilo 17y ago
It is difficult to determine just what, exactly is so revolutionary about this device. Is it that it is small and easy enough for an untrained operator to run? Is it affordable enough for a bookstore to install? I ask, because on-demand book printing is nothing new, and $8 a book has been achievable for a long time. Lulu.com does it with Xerox iGen3's and 4's, attached to perfect-binding equipment, with a really snazzy workflow that automates everything from order to shipping. Of course, a single-machine setup requires a trained operator and about $1 million. (I'm a certified iGen4 operator, but not affiliated with Lulu).
- rms 17y ago
  I'd guess these don't require trained operators, but the difference that the article specifies is that the new machine costs $100,000. So it's an order of magnitude difference from the existing solutions.

23 points by rms 17y ago

rms 17y ago

Unanswered is if this has superior print/bind quality compared to existing print on demand solutions.

If you to submit an article that has an uninformative and sensationalized headline like "The World of Book Publishing Is About to Change", please edit it to something more reasonable. In this case, might I suggest "New machine at Harvard prints paperbacks on demand for $8 in four minutes".

rms 17y ago
Ok.
cduan 17y ago
For that matter, the Harvard Book Store is not part of Harvard University. It is an independent bookstore.
- Psyonic 17y ago
  If I remember right from my summer in Cambridge, it's basically a rebranded Barnes and Noble, yes?
  - pg 17y ago
    No; you're thinking of the actual HU bookstore, the Coop.
    - Psyonic 17y ago
      Ya that's right, now I remember

jacquesm 17y ago

Interesting! That's cheaper than an amazon 'e-book', and when you're done with it you can give the book away to the next person.

xiaoma 17y ago
Yes, but Scribd E-books can be copied in the blink of the eye and without exchanging any money at all.
- biohacker42 17y ago
  DRM, sure you could copy a book who's copyright has expired, but there have been DRM issues with those too. Also many people, me included, prefer the feel of paper.

ynniv 17y ago

Just a note that this machine is at Harvard Book Store, which is an independent business and not part of Harvard University as the shortened HN title might suggest.

danw 17y ago

My local blackwells has had a similar service for a while. The trouble is they charge more for an on-demand book than an off the shelf one. I've never seen anyone use the service.

skolor 17y ago
I remember hearing about this, and was hoping for the price to be about half what it is. This is a great opportunity for physical books, but it won't be all that feasible until the cost for the on-demand books are significantly cheaper.
felixc 17y ago
The University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) also has one of these. I'm not sure when it was introduced, but I think it was at the start of this term. Thankfully, it is cheaper than off-the-shelf books (at least the two or three titles I looked at were).

_ck_ 17y ago

Remember how in Babylon5 they would turn in yesterday's printed newspaper to get today's news printed on the recycled pages? I think we are headed that way. Because reading on paper just has a certain handiness to it no matter how sophisticated our portable devices are.

bhrgunatha 17y ago

Does anyone have a link to a video of it at work? I'd like to see it in action.

neuralzen 17y ago

I just helped set one of these up yesterday at a book store(networking, port forwarding, etc.). Its pretty badass, though I haven't seen it in action yet. Its going to access google's scanned books too!

rms 17y ago
To answer teilo's question, is it hard to use? Once the IT is set up, can a minimum wage employee reasonably operate the machine?

teilo 17y ago

It is difficult to determine just what, exactly is so revolutionary about this device. Is it that it is small and easy enough for an untrained operator to run? Is it affordable enough for a bookstore to install? I ask, because on-demand book printing is nothing new, and $8 a book has been achievable for a long time. Lulu.com does it with Xerox iGen3's and 4's, attached to perfect-binding equipment, with a really snazzy workflow that automates everything from order to shipping. Of course, a single-machine setup requires a trained operator and about $1 million. (I'm a certified iGen4 operator, but not affiliated with Lulu).

rms 17y ago
I'd guess these don't require trained operators, but the difference that the article specifies is that the new machine costs $100,000. So it's an order of magnitude difference from the existing solutions.