Via Books, Inq., here's an interesting article about one possible future of publishing: Printing on Demand (POD). You have to admit that there's something Star Trek-like in walking up to a computer, making a request, and leaving with a book. "Computer, collected works of Jane Austen, years 1811 to 1814, bound in one volume." Like it or not, that show has spawned a whole host of innovations. For example, I'm sure the inventor of the flip phone used to sit in front of his television thinking about how cool it would be to have a communicator. Give the geeks enough time and they'll make Roddenberry's vision of the future happen.
Although I'm all for progress and not a fan of how bookstores do business, I actually like shopping for books. POD would take all the fun out of it. Every time I'm in a bookstore, even when I know what I want, I end up purchasing several other titles found while thumbing through displays or browsing spines in the literature section. I also browse books while online shopping, but doubt I'd go through the effort of driving to a Starbucks for a suggestion from their POD vending machine. I can get that right here from my own computer, and I don't have to wear pants as I click from a list to a review to a book description.
The hunt is almost as fun as the reading. Just this past weekend, I went to the semi-annual garage sale at Wild West City ("The best of the West in the heart of the East"? Uh, okay.) benefiting a local animal shelter. I was so impressed by the used book selection that I made an excuse, a friend had been looking for a particular title, to go back again the next day. After crawling around in the mud to see every spine and elbowing my way through the other bargain hunters, I walked away with 22 near-mint books for $5, including one for my friend. I almost went back a third time for the $2 bag sale, but hundreds of unread books cluttering up Casa BookBlog forced restraint.
Despite the futuristic novelty of POD, a traditionally published book is unlikely to lose its feel appeal. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Captain Kirk gets two literary birthday gifts: A Tale of Two Cities and reading glasses. Picard keeps a large, leather-bound copy of Shakespeare's works in his ready room. Couldn't they have simply POD'ed the books from a replicator? Even future-forward movie/television visionaries don't see the book going away completely.
Hmm. Maybe that last paragraph gave away a little too much of my own geekiness and didn't help my argument. But, damn it, POD is simply not my idea of an enjoyable way of obtaining a book and maybe I'm not a "real reader" since I don't care who sees me in a bookshop. Regardless, I think it's time to crawl into bed with a "real book" and put a dent in the old TBR pile.
