Many of you were taken by the Espresso Book Machine by Xerox and the news of the first European Print-On-Demand bookstore opening in Paris. You had many questions in regards to the resulting book’s cost, the quality of printing etc, so I thought I’d come up with a little more information on the technology.

the Espresso Book Machine

Brandon Badger, Product Manager on Google Books, and Dane Neller, CEO of On Demand Books, discuss the Espresso Book Machine in the video below:

You will notice that it’s really a fancy laser printer with great collating and trimming features.

However, I couldn’t help but notice that the pages are A4-sized and printed in a portrait orientation (see 1’53” or image on the right). That means the machine is ideal for textbooks and reports, but fans of literature may find the end result unflattering.

At least, it’s not…