RE: Building collections at all

[<Toby.GREEN@oecd.org>]

Sandy,

I agree, the print quality is lower - but isn't this a trade off 
with another value added - delivery times? To put it another way, 
which is more valuable: dpi or delivery times? By adding local 
POD into our supply chain we can speed delivery significantly. In 
this 'I-want-it-now-or-I-won't-have-it-at-all' culture, cutting 
delivery times to 'now' from 'it'll take a few days' is an 
important value proposition for publishers to consider.

I agree that there is a reduction in quality when comparing our 
one-colour offset paperbacks with those coming off the Espresso. 
However, I've tested the two versions with unsuspecting readers 
and none has spotted any differences. So, maybe the lower quality 
is not such a worry for one-colour, perfect-bound titles.

Toby

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Sent: 19 June, 2009 5:34 AM
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: Building collections at all

Production managers at most publishers will shudder to learn that
the Espresso machine will come into common use, unless its use is
restricted to the production of books that are otherwise
unavailable. The quality of book production will deteriorate
badly if the Espresso becomes the standard. It's like people
getting used to reading the 300 dpi that comes off of
photocopiers instead of the 1200 to 2200 dpi that is typical for
printed books. There goes some of the "value added" that
publishers pride themselves on....

Sandy Thatcher
Penn State University Press