A Vending Machine That Offers 500,000 Items?

I think I have discovered my favorite vending machine of all-time. It's not a vegan yum-yum-treat apparatus, but rather a literary treasure trove. The Espresso Book Machine is an innovative vending machine, recently unveiled in London. It offers hundreds of thousands of items. You may not see them all available in the display window, but the Espresso Book Machine has access to half-a-MILLION books.

You just put in your money, make your selection, and the machine will print and bind your book right before your eyes. It prints 100 pages per minute and can pop out a children's book in seconds; abiography in minutes, and War & Peace in about 15 min-a-rooties.

According to their website: "On Demand Books (ODB) uses proprietary software and a patented, fully integrated high speed machine to print, bind and trim a library quality paperback book at point of sale on demand in minutes at low cost from digital files. The Espresso Book Machine replaces the centralized supply chain for the distribution of books – essentially unchanged since Gutenberg – with radically decentralized direct-to-consumer distribution.  In essence, an ATM for books."

The Espresso Book Machine is the brainchild of American publisher, Jason Epstein, who is married to journalist Judith Miller, the New York Times writer for who was incarcerated for refusing to reveal her sources in the Karl Rove-Robert Novak CIA leak story.