"ATM for Books"
Sep. 18th, 2008 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranAngus & Robertson today became the first Australian book chain to install the Espresso Book Machine (EBM), capable of printing, trimming and binding a paperback book on demand within minutes.
It was dubbed an "ATM for books" by Time magazine, which last year named it one of the best inventions of the year.
A&R is planning to install 50 of the machines around Australia and New Zealand. There are some obvious advantage in terms of managing inventory and returns, but it will be interesting to see if this is really the future, or just a detour en route to an all electronic format.
It was dubbed an "ATM for books" by Time magazine, which last year named it one of the best inventions of the year.
A&R is planning to install 50 of the machines around Australia and New Zealand. There are some obvious advantage in terms of managing inventory and returns, but it will be interesting to see if this is really the future, or just a detour en route to an all electronic format.
