I'm going to that vending machine over there, what book do you want?

[Doodle]

Source

A new vending machine has been released which can print any book within minutes.

The Espresso Book Machine has access to 500,000 different books - the same as 23.6 miles of shelf space - and can even churn out a fresh copy of Crime and Punishment in just nine minutes.

Pages are printed at a rate of over 100 per minute and are then pressed, glued and cut to produce a pristine book.

Users simply pick the book they would like on a screen and wait for it to be printed ... it certainly is a novel way of getting a new book.

There are currently only three of the £70,000 devices from On Demand Books and Lightning Source, with one in Blackwell's Charing Cross Road branch in London.

"We see the Espresso Book Machine as an innovative and exciting way for publishers to get their books out into the market," said David Taylor, President of Lightning Source.

"There is clearly a place for the in-store print on demand model in the emerging landscape of globally distributed print.

"Working with On Demand Books allows the many thousands of publishers with whom we already work the chance to get their books into this new distribution channel with minimal effort."

That's kind of neat. It would definitely help authors get there books out in the world for people to see.

[Kilroy]

Holy crap, that's really cool D:

[Mario583]

What will they print out next?  Games?
..............O wai- ::)

Pretty cook though.

[Tupin]

That's cool, printing media right in front of people.

Maybe games will be next, if the book printers take off.

[Indigo]

That sounds amazing.

[Zovistograt]

Very convenient...although if it takes off, we could probably expect publishing companies to get more creative with making preprinted books more appealing.

[Talim]

Waste of paper. Just go get the book you want from the library or something.

[Link3588]

Waste of paper. Just go get the book you want from the library or something.

How is it a waste when it prints on demand instead of having 40 copies of each book?

[Lohn Jocke]

My only problem is that There's going to be Twilight plastered on the cover.
You all know it'll happen.