Coming REAL soon: Vending machine books

Okay, so vending machines with books in them are not that new. In an August 2005 article, Paris has traditional vending machines where consumers can purchase books. But now, the new vending machines can print and bind a book for you.

Okay, print-on-demand (POD), as it is called, is nothing new either. A Technology Review article from January 2005, The Future of Books, by Jason Epstein, discusses its use. However, according to a December 14, 2006 article in Fortune Small Business these POD vending machines are almost consumer-ready and will start to appear in libraries and bookstores this year. New York Public Library appears to be the first when they get a machine next month.

This is an idea I suggested for libraries after reading the Technology Review article. I envisioned the libraries would still keep some circulating copies that will continue to be free and a small fee to print a book (as is the case with these new POD vending machines). Except, to keep printing (and killing trees) to a minimum, patrons could receive a discount on their next printing for returning a previously printed book that is in good condition, of course. These gently used books would then be sold by the library at a reduced rate that would be less than the price to print from the POD machines.

Is it too late to patent my idea?

If you would like to see a video of a print-on-demand machine in use, visit www.OnDemandBooks.com that will be supplying New York Public Library's machine. If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, the World Bank InfoShop has one of these machines up and running.

Experimenting with "Spell with Flickr"

I hate using Blogger with IE! Where are my Quick Edits! Give me my Firefox!

A co-worker had asked me how to create a post using Spell with Flickr. So, this is my fooling-around post to see how it works. Nice, when you can figure it out.