DISQUS

Open Culture: The Fifteen Minute Book Machine

  • George Burke · 2 years ago
    Although we might not be as cool and as instantaneous as this machine, BookSwim delivers our book rental members their requested books to their home, then send them back in the mail when finished. No late fees, unlimited rentals per month, and free shipping both ways. You can find us at http://www.bookswim.com.
  • Scott Eblen · 2 years ago
    Print-on-demand makes a lot of sense but there's a far bigger opportunity in selling this as a service rather than a commodity. It's similar to home photo printing. You can never really achieve the scale to justify the cost of a photo printer with ink and paper, but people are happy to send off their digital prints and receive hard copies a few days later.

    Lulu.com is one of the most ambitious companies in the print on demand space. Founded by the same guy who founded Red Hat Linux, their aim is to provide a technology platform that puts authors and independent publishers in control of the sale and printing of their material. They have massive room-sized printers that can churn out single copies of hard backed books in minutes.