CraZy!

So e-books are pretty wild. But this is just crazy!

Check this out.

This article is about a machine that prints books on demand. The espresso book printing machine. Woah.
Users can (for a fee) print a book they wrote or a book already in print. These machines are not for printing Harry Potter size books. More like a 200 page or so book.
When the book is completed, it will have a cover and be trimmed to a specified size. The claim is that the books will be library quality. In about 5 minutes. Again, woah.



Now, this is super cool and everything, but I still have my "...but..."
This is great if a person is trying to get something published. They can send their work to a publisher bound and covered, making it look professional and, well, like a published book.
But for books that are in the public domain and are already published... why pay to print them? Users must go to the library to print out the books, anyway, so why not skip the fee and just take out the book for free? Isn't that the great thing about the library? You don't have to pay to use the materials.
For those people who think, "but what if someone already checked the book out?" I say, "put in a request for it." You shall get it soon enough. For free. And without killing unnecessary trees.

In summary:
Instant printing for self publishing= Good.
Instant printing to get a book that may be only a few free steps away= Weird.
Being able to print an entire book in minutes, cover and all= Crazy wild.