Going Green

Espresso versus Kindle – the Battle for Books

By Gail Nickel-Kailing on May 28th, 2009

The “most significant step in publishing in the last 500 years…” Is it the Kindle or is it the Espresso?

On Demand Books is getting a lot of attention these days, even a spot on National Public Radio where the CEO, Dane Neller, said it will “keep paper books way ahead of electronic books, such as those available as the Amazon Kindle. Our technology now makes it possible for the printed page to move as rapidly as the electronic page.”

While print will never move as fast as the electronic page, the Espresso actually could revolutionize the publishing of printed books. Consider the cost, effort, and sheer volumes of paper required to keep the publishing supply chain working.

Traditionally books have been printed in quantities measured by thousands, distributor warehouses stocked, and bookstore shelves loaded. A minimum run of several thousand is needed to simply “prime” the supply chain. And when those thousands of copies don’t sell, they go back to the publisher to be recycled.

Print-on-demand books through companies like BookSurge, an Amazon subsidiary, attempt to eliminate most of that supply chain, but the Expresso cuts out even the final distribution. The book-printing machine is within arm’s reach of the reader. No need to print in one place and ship to the consumer.

Lightning Source, an Ingram company, originally a producer of print-on-demand books, has completed an agreement with On Demand Books to offer the Lightning Source customer base (authors and publishers) the ability to deliver their books to point of sale production, eliminating even Lightning Source as a printer.

Espresso/Kindle Lineup

Let’s take a quick look at the contenders and what they offer.

The Kindle

• Lightweight – weighs less than a typical paperback book.
• Immediate delivery of content – in less than a minute.
• Holds up to 3,500 books.
• More than books – subscribe to newspapers like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal; magazines like The New Yorker and Time, and popular blogs.
• Elimination of paper publications intended to be read once and discarded, such as daily newspapers.
• Text-to-speech reads to you.
• Expensive – $359 to $489 for the reader and $9.95 and up for books.
• Black and white display only.
• Not waterproof – don’t use this in the bathtub!
• No “secondary” market – no used book sales.
• Lose your Kindle and you’ve lost your books (unless, you replace it or use a Kindle reader on your iPhone).

The Espresso

• Near-immediate delivery of content – prints and binds a 320-page book with a four-color cover in about seven minutes. (Place your order and get in line for your cup of coffee. You’ll get both delivered in about the same amount of time.)
• Delivers content in a permanent, physical format directly from the point of production to the reader’s hands.
• Permanence – books printed hundreds of years ago still exist in readable form.
• Waterproof? Well, if you’ve ever dropped a book in your bath you know the result! Not waterproof, but definitely still readable when dried off.
• Text-to-speech requires human intervention. (And best when done with a preschooler in your lap.)
• Elimination of not only the paper-dependent supply chain that fills warehouses and bookstores with books that will ultimately be returned to the publisher for pulping, but also elimination of the carbon footprint of the transportation network.

To quote a friend and bookstore co-owner, Christopher Brayshaw of PulpFiction in Vancouver BC, “When you buy something from us, you get a real thing to hold in your hands, to keep as long as you want. With the Kindle you pay a high price for nothing of substance.”

Granted, Chris sells “real” books not digital books, but his customers are looking for a different kind of book. I expect that he’d be just as happy to sell an Espresso-printed book in his used book section as one printed in any other way.

The Winner?

The winner is the reader! You’re looking at two distinct technologies that deliver different reading experiences.

The Kindle is perfect for “read once” content like newspapers and adult fiction. And textbooks – those horrendously expensive, constantly updated tomes – are also perfect for the Kindle, assuming you don’t require color illustrations. And assuming that the net cost to the student works out to a reasonable deal… buying and selling of used books has long been part of the student experience.

A printed book – Espresso-printed or traditionally printed – is ideal for something you intend to keep and refer back to or to resell at sometime in the future.

I expect that we will continue to see books in myriad forms – e-book, a-book (audio), and p-book (printed) – for a very long time. Each offers a different way to read and each has its place.

See the Espresso in action; paper in, book out!

For more information see these related articles and reports:

• A Patent for Books On Demand? An Inside Look at ODMC versus Lightning Source, Amazon & Ingram (Requires Premium Access to WhatTheyThink)
• Lightning Source Inc. prevails in patent infringement lawsuit
• Digital Nirvana: Print-on-Demand Book Growth
• Report: E-Books and E-Publishing Primer – A 79-page report provides an easy-to-read overview of the current state of e-book hardware readers such as the Amazon Kindle; the myriad software-based e-book readers and formats available including e-book apps for the iPhone and other portable devices; a discussion of “e-zines” and digital periodicals; a brief technological overview of “electronic paper”; and where the market for e-books and other types of e-content stands today, as well as where it is likely to go in the near future.