How about this take on information on demand: book vending machines. Found this link on BoingBoing (truly, “A Directory of Wonderful Things”) via Yahoo! News. The implications? How about virtual information kiosks on busy street corners? 24/7 virtual reference terminals in bus stations or malls? Or an on-demand, computerized and temperature-controlled, with perfectly caffeinated calibration, cafe au lait dispensing machine next to my bed? You know, what you want, when you want it.

Fun and inventive, the book vending machine opens possibilities. Of course, I wouldn’t want to be encased in a glass coffin dispensing information willy-nilly (I’d probably fog up the glass), but the idea of a virtual library presence just about anywhere does have awesome possibilities. Wonder if they have pastries-on-demand on those French streets?

Memo Cordova