Slashdot Mirror
The BookMachine: On-Demand Book Printing in 3-5 Minutes
Photo_Designer writes "Engadget has an article about these cool BookMachines that spit out on-demand books in just a few minutes. Sounds cool. Forget eBooks.. get the real thing!" The company website has some more information, though it's a bit suspiciously skimpy on hard specifications.
Soon there will be eBookMachines which do all the stuff the BookMachines do but entirely online!
death by encylopedia Brittanica
The purchase of books does not necessarily imply the reading of them.
KFG
..do all the scrolls and cunieform tablets I see at the MVSEVM?
Sure, no more out of print, just out of paper.
The American Publishing Association declares ASCII files a threat to the publishing industry...
W = (-president)^1/2
Nobody reads anymore, huh? So all these giant Barnes and Nobles they're building are just for decoration?
Last I checked, most people go to B+N to have a nice cuppa at the cafe corner while perusing a few magazine they picked up on the mag shelf for free.
Oh yes, and by CD, stationery and postcards, and books for work.
And it's true, sometimes book for fun also.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
They were replaced by teenage emplyees in Mcdonlads
That, and it's a place to go return your amazon purchase.
"Piter, too, is dead."
I'm sorry, but the Franklin Mint NASCAR Heroes Commemorative Plate series do not count as plates. They are just stupid-shit-that-rednecks-buy...
And books are often intelligent shit that stupid rednecks buy to appear intelligent.
KFG
You like using the word 'booty' a lot. Are you a pirate or a rapper? I can't quite decide.
>display them, sort of like trophies. Just about
>every upper middle class home has a copy of
Moby Dick in it somewhere. I'd guess about 1 in
100 has actually been read.
And ask your average Barnes and Nobles customer rather he'd prefer a poor translation bound in leather or a regular style, good translation for the same price and he'll go for the leather.
Speaking of display books and Mobey Dick, I received the following letter in the mail a while ago and saved it for its amusement value. Here it is, reprinted in part (ellipses where text has been eliminated -- it's too long to include the whole thing):
Building a fine library says a lot about you.
It's among the finest accomplishments a person can claim. Now take pride in adding this exquisite, leather-bound volume to
- your
library.Herman Melville's immortal classic
Moby Dick
Just one of THE 100 GREATEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN -- yours in an extraordinary, heirloom-quality Collector Edition, bound in genuine leather and accented with 22kt gold, for only $5.95*...
...I don't have to tell you that the measure of a man or woman is not calculated in dollars and cents.
It's calibrated on a more finely tuned scale. Character. Education. Values. Taste. Excellence. Achievement. Experience. These are the traits which set you apart.
Which is why I am writing you today. I believe you are unusually equipped to appreciate the extraordinary offer I am about to make. This offer is available only to the very few. Because only the very few will appreciate it...
To prove my point, take this test: When Moby Dick arrives, don't open it right away to its immortal first sentence. Just hold it in your hands a moment. Savor it.
You have never experienced a volume so impressive!
You will immediately notice it's weight, a sign of quality materials assembled without compromise, much like the vaunted weight of a Rolls Royce automobile....
...
- Now observe
- Moby Dick's exquisite leather covers
.......
- Let the light play on the beautiful stamped cover
.......
- Admire the spine, stamped with 22kt gold, and featuring traditional raised hubs
......
- Observe the gilded page edges
.......The rewards of owning this Collector Edition go far beyond the printed page. Imagine your friends' admiration as you place this volume in their hands. Imagine your pleasure as they feel the premium leather and watch the light play off the 22kt gold on the spines....
...Your Collector Edition of Moby Dick can be -- if you choose -- just the beginning of a spectacular library of the highest strivings of the human spirit, THE 100 GREATEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN.
Imagine sharing your home or office with the timeless works of Shakespeare, Dickens, Dumas, Plato, Poe and Whitman. Imagine Stevenson, London, Brontë, Chaucer, Drarwin, Browning, and Dostoevsky on your bookshelves...
...Owning Moby Dick -- and any of the other great books in THE 100 GREATEST BOOKS EVER WRITTEN may be one of the most fulfilling things to happen to you since you first tasted success. Imagine the pride you will take in your library. Imagine the pleasure of those who visit you and gaze with appreciation at your fine editions....
Well, at least they've got one thing right: when the customer's copy of Moby arrives in the mail, the first thing he'll do doubtless won't be to open it to that immortal first sentence. In fact, he'll probably just never "get around" to that.
--A witty sig proves nothing.--