HP actually leads the market in Digital Presses used for Print on Demand. These are a bit more sophisticated than your old Xerox copier and you could probably spend half a million $ on a decent setup. [
h10088.www1.hp.com] I would expect we will see continuing advances in this technology.
I've "published" 4 books using Print on demand. Right now I am using Blurb, although there is nothing tying me to them. I looked seriously at Amazon's Create Space, but at the time I felt Blurb was setup better for color "picture books". Anyone serious with this needs to use Adobe InDesign instead of Blurb's Booksmart for layout.
The biggest problems I've seen are that 1) the cost per cost is too high; for instance I can't afford to give away complimentary copies to those who contributed just a few photos. 2) the way Blurb does business is that they contract with several printers across the country and farm out the printing. Usually to get consistent tonal range you need to have your exposures absolutely perfect. I end up having multiple "proof copies" made before I am happy with the results (and all this is costing me $'s).
I'd put my latest work up against anything Morning Sun puts out in print quality. Granted they aren't known for their quality like Sundance or McMillian Publications, but somebody must be buying all those books they have printed overseas every month.
The biggest problem I see with traditional book publication and production is that as the market shrinks and press runs are smaller, the overhead per book goes up. It's hard to swallow that a 128 page color book is now listing for $60. Those kind of costs are forcing potential buyers to look for discounted sellers, so its hard for a traditional railroad store to keep a big selection. And its unreasonable to expect the average buyer to always buy sight unseen through the internet.
I figure that in the set set of advances in this technology, even Jerry will admit that Offset Printing is dead.
Bill Kepner
