"Microwave" Books?

It seems that technology has launched into warp speed at times, with information is coming at us from every direction at alarming rates.

Fast and furious, instant gratification is the name of the game.

The Internet has made it possible for all of us to research any idea, thought or concept that may cross our minds with a few key strokes and the click of a mouse.

Add iPads and Kindles, etc. to the mix, and it would seem that printed material is going the way of the Wooly Mammoth and Saber-toothed Tiger.

As a life long reader, however, I still prefer the look, feel and smell of a REAL book.

According to Alison Flood, writer for guardian.co.uk and former news editor of The Bookseller, it appears that I am not alone.

When the Espresso Book Machine made its debut at Blackwell’s Charing Cross Road branch in London, Ms. Flood heralded its arrival as the “biggest change for the literary world since Gutenberg invented his printing press more than 500 years ago.”

The implications for a machine that prints and binds over 500,000 titles on demand…and each in about 5 minutes…may signal the end to some of the frustrations we’ve all no doubt experienced when a particular book is out of stock or worse, out of print.

Andrew Hutchings, Blackwell's chief executive, believes this machine could change the bookselling industry by giving smaller shops the ability to compete with giants like Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, etc.

My own memories of long hours spent in the “Reserve Stacks” at the university library because a much-needed text was no longer in print have flooded my mind since reading the guardian.co.uk article.

Some checking proved that indeed, of the 19 machines operating in the United States today, 13 of them are on college or university campuses.

I would think that it’s only a matter of time before the business community taps into this new technology and we begin to “Microwave Book” machines next to the Red Box video machine at our local grocery stores.

The impact on traditional book publishers and sellers is something only time will tell.


The guardian.co.uk article can be read in its entirety here