Some Print on Demand Thinking
In 2005, I pitched this model (deployment of publisher-run expensive print on demand machines in lieu of big box bookstores) to one of those state-run business plan competitions for college students. Was told the technology was at least a decade away. Heh.
Now its just a matter of time before the $175,000 price tag drops (and along with it the price of books). More likely to take off than e-readers – until those drop to the $50 range.
At the time, I also pitched the same type of model for a UPS-run Netflix killer. (Co-locate a DVD-RW press at UPS hubs, burn on demand, deliver, retrieve and re-use the disc until it’s dead.) Cuts out the bloat of Netflix’s own warehouse network. However, that particular idea has been beat out by broadband.
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Hey. Just out of curiosity, what printer did you spec in your original business plan? Docutech with a real person binding?
That actually might have been it. Competition was open-ended enough to spend some time+money on then-current generation systems to be the ‘perfect’ machine.