Think “read on demand”The Telegraph just published an article on Britain’s first ”book vending machine”, their moniker for On Demand‘s local print-on-demand offering, the Espresso. The article offers a consumer perspective on what makes books produced from a local alternative, even at a higher price, an acceptable choice for some book buyers. The Espresso is already up and running in a few locations, including the University of Alberta bookstore, and a new version debuted at February’s Tools of Change conference put on by O’Reilly Media. At the TOC conference, you could ask for a copy of one of the books queued for distribution and watch it get printed and bound for you. Nice use of plexiglass to make the short wait seem even shorter. We’ve studied POD and blogged about its potential, but publishers have been generally slow to adapt their workflows and supply chains to take advantage of the technology. Maybe the POD industry would be better served taking a clue from their interested (and sometimes zealous) customer base and renaming its technology “Read on Demand”. I’d have to change all my tags, but that’s a small price to pay to see a good idea make the big time. CommentsPOD is a great opportunity for university presses especially, as the student market poses different challenges and opportunities for revenue. And based on the way university students study, ‘read on demand’ may prove to be a more appealing approach to branding Posted by on 04/28 at 02:56 PM
I like “read on demand” since it puts the emphasis on the consumer, which this is all about ultimately, and which will also hopefully remove some of the negative stigma still associated with “print on demand.” And it really is about giving the consumer the choice of platforms for their “reading” needs… Posted by on 04/30 at 12:32 PM
Thanks for your comments. I’m on a small-scale crusade to relieve POD (sorry, ROD) of any stigma Posted by Brian O'Leary on 04/30 at 12:58 PM
That is a nice and informative post about POD. I have got a lot from this. Thanks for sharing the nice information. Posted by Edwin on 05/20 at 02:00 AM
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