Check out this video of the espresso print on demand book machine. According to the New York Observer, there are 37 in operation around the world and another 14 planned.
While the economics mean the machine is currently only of interest to large stores, technology evolves. Think of how this could work for special interest magazines. We could pull digital stock direct from publishers.
The University of Melbourne Bookstore has one; it’s in the foyer of the Ballieu Library. A&R also had one in its Elizabeth St store for a while but it’s gone into hiding: major book publishers still aren’t prepared to / are unable to get rights agreements to allow it to be used for in-print (but out of stock) books.
it will be like digital photolab