Print On Demand
March 6, 2007
Tom Slee continues his critique of Chris Anderson’s book “The Long Tail” with his post on chapter 6 The New Markets. Near the end of the post Tom has this to say about print-on-demand.
Inventory on Demand [94-96] is yet more Amazon smoke and mirrors. By this time it is really getting silly. Anderson talks about Amazon’s big commitment to print on demand publishing as a way of selling all those niche books. But while he notes that “the potential of print-on-demand is extraordinary” [96] he doesn’t give any real-world numbers.
I think print-on-demand is one of the best examples of The Long Tail in action (or on the verge of action). Blurb and Lulu are two print on demand companies that ultimately service niche markets. This type of printing is very appealing to amateur photographers, for instance. The following article provides an overview of Private Photographic Book Publishing. The article describes an entry level cost of about $10,000 for one hundred books using traditional printing. Print-on-demand changes the equation.
There is an adoption lag for any new technology or service and I’m sure that print-on-demand will reach a tipping point within the next few years. Forget the type of book that Amazon sells. Publish-on-demand tackles the market of books without ISBN numbers and sales figures in the 10′s. Right now when I go on a diving vacation, the resort or dive operator normally offers a video of your week for about $75. I suspect that these operators will soon offer a print-on-demand book which you can put on the shelf beside your wedding book and the book of your kids’ terrible twos.
That reminds me, I need to start planning my first annual garden book. RAD’s Garden 2007 :-)
Golden Hour
March 6, 2007
Golden Hour is a magical time of day. Actually two times of day. It occurs for about an hour after sunrise and about an hour before sunset. During Golden Hour the sun is low in the sky and it casts long shadows. The shadows give texture and depth to a scene. The light is much warmer (golden) and there is less harshness.
Mid-day is the opposite of Golden Hour. The light is directly overhead and it is very harsh. Photographs taken outdoors at noon under clear skies are consistently awful.
I added this shot to the About RAD page. Sometimes shadows can be illuminating.
