The Fifteen-Minute Book Machine

Today’s New York Times checks out the Espresso Book Machine on display for demos in the lobby of the midtown branch of the New York Public Library.

Created by a company co-founded by Jason Epstein, former editorial director of Random House, the Espresso Book Machine, manufactured by On
Demand Books
(click link to see a video of the machine making a book) “occupies the space of two deli-style ice cream freezers, looks like office photocopiers attached to a tinted stereo cabinet and computer terminal. It hums, makes spitting noises, moans and then belches out a newly glued book, fresh as bread and almost as hot”–all in about 15 minutes.