Google’s going to go print-on-demand with its pre-1923 books (potentially more later).

As part of a deal announced Thursday, Google is opening up part of its index to the maker of a high-speed publishing machine that can manufacture a paperback-bound book of about 300 pages in under five minutes. The new service is an acknowledgment by the Internet search leader that not everyone wants their books served up on a computer or an electronic reader like those made by Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Inc.

But it seems it only matters to those who have access to the “Espresso Book Machine” – at least as far as I could tell. Hypothetically, this means you could own copies of all those old grammars that you’ve saved PDF’s of for about $8 each.

HT: Jim West