It used to be, if you wanted a book you went to a book store and bought it. If it wasn't in stock, you had to wait while the book store ordered it. It's not exactly news that the book selling market, like so many content sellers, has been changed in a profound way by the Internet. Why go to the book store if you can get it from Amazon faster and more efficiently. But quick-printing technology could be changing the role of book sellers--and could actually save them.

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Harper Collins made a deal with On Demand Books, the maker of the Espresso Book Machine, which can print a book on demand in just a few minutes. Book sellers can have one of these machines in the store and offer customers this unique way to get a book almost instantly, even when it's not in stock.

This ability to generate a book quickly could give the Internet book sellers a run for their money and could possibly make the local book seller relevant again. Book sellers could not only offer big-selling books, but they could become publishers themselves and feature local authors who might not have access to agents and publishers. Think about a poetry slam at the local book store where the poets could sell their books afterward, or a local novelist who can sell a small number of books after a reading.

What the Internet has always provided content producers is the ability to give consumers immediate (or in the case of Amazon books, faster) gratification than the local book seller. Now, instead of shelves stacked with books, imagine a single copy or two for browsing, then ordering the book at the counter and having it printed for you in a few minutes?

Or if you prefer, loading your eBook reader with the latest books, while supporting your book seller in the process? It's an attractive business model and it could give new life to a business that until recently appeared to be on its way out.

Local book stores have been under pressure for years from the Internet and big box stores like Barnes and Noble, and Borders. But even Borders was forced to succumb to the vagaries of a changing market and was unable to adapt. Meanwhile, Barnes and Noble hangs on with its line of Nook eBook readers, and of course Amazon recently announced the new $199 Kindle Fire tablet and the $80 Kindle eBook reader.

It's all enough to make small book sellers throw up their hands, but by providing consumers with a local brick and mortar alternative, combined with that lost ability to ability to browse the aisles, and instantly print books, it could change the way we interact and think of content selling outlets like book stores.

It's worth noting, however, that according to the Wall Street Journal article, there are only 23 of the Espresso Book Machines in operation at book stores in the United States at the moment with another 30 ready to be installed.

In fact, we've had the ability to write CDs and DVDs for years, but I've yet to see the record or movie industry come up with the idea of on-demand production, probably because their industry associations, the RIAA and MPAA, are more interested in fighting technology than embracing it.

As these two powerful organizations have rejected technological advances in favor of protecting turf, we have seen record stores big and small shut down. But imagine instead of selling just pre-packaged CDs and DVDs, you also sold a cheaper on-demand version, you could have a model to keep retailers alive.

I could also see bands themselves setting up on-demand production at concerts where fans could buy a recording of the show they just saw.

It's clear that brick and mortar content sellers have faced tremendous challenges over the last decade, but there are still many folks who enjoy the experience of browsing for a book, movie or record inside a store, and on-demand selling could be just the ticket for resurrecting a dying business model. - Ron