Espresso Book Machine

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Espresso Book Machine at the Salon du Livre de Paris in 2015.

The Espresso Book Machine (EBM) was a print on demand (POD) machine created by On Demand Books. It printed, collated, covered, and bound a single book in a few minutes.

Introduced in 2007, EBM was small enough to fit in a

paperback book.[2][3]

The manufacture of the machine has been discontinued as of January 2024 due to the closure of On Demand Books.

History

U.S. Patent 5,465,213.[4] Peter Zelchenko, a Chicago-based technologist and a partner of Ross in a related patent effort, worked with Marsh to prove the concept and also helped bring Marsh and other players together with several venture interests.[5]

Ultimately Epstein, together with

Dean and Deluca, licensed Marsh's invention and founded On Demand Books.[3][6]

The first Espresso Book Machine was installed and demonstrated June 21, 2007, at the New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library. For a month, the public was allowed to test the machine by printing free copies of public domain titles provided by the Open Content Alliance (OCA), a non-profit organization with a database of over 200,000 titles.[2]

As of January 2024, the company behind the Espresso Book Machine has been closed.[7] However, some machines continue to remain in places that had purchased them prior to the closure of the company.[8]

Distribution

The direct-to-consumer model supported by Espresso Book Machine eliminated the need for

pulping of unsold books; it allowed simultaneous global availability[3] of millions of new and backlist
titles.

EBM books were also available for distribution through Lightning Source, a subsidiary of Ingram Content Group.

References

  1. ^ Overview of the report on "Future of Books" CQ Researcher Blog. May 29, 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  2. ^
    PR Web
    . June 21, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2007.
  3. ^ a b c "End of the line for books?". The Sydney Morning Herald. October 4, 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
  4. Google.com
    .
  5. ^ Rose, M.J. (July 17, 2001). "Twelve-minute Book Delivery". Wired. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  6. On Demand Books
    . Retrieved on June 3, 2009.
  7. ^ "ODB Network Closing". ondemandbooks.com. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  8. ^ "Espresso Book Machine". Flintridge Bookstore. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
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