Dear Shaded Viewers,
The Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) have opened an advanced bookstore concept in Paris. What a clever idea it is to invite clients to have coffee while their book is actually being printed ! It seems to be a very appropriate and timely thing, as durable solutions are required to offset our mindless consuming habits. (This is in stark contrast to the Salon du Livre which is opening in Paris on Thursday, with thousands of newly printed books in stock…)
PUF heralds the end of useless stock and wasted materials/labor/storage/shipping ; only the requested book is actually produced and consumed. What a revolution for the industry !
Yet PUF is still limited, you can only choose from a catalog of 5000 books, and the books cannot exceed 800 pages. The bookstore does not look so attractive and they’d really need help on the design. Nevertheless, this process seems to hold a great and durable future for physical books enthusiasts.
It also seems to be the perfect future for magazines that could overcome the difficulty of worldwide distribution, as we expect that color print will soon be available on every page in this format.
Later,
Geraldine
