Said Hewlett-Packard's Andrew Bolwell in a recent ABC World News feature on the book,"We think a book like this that's printed only after it's ordered, that's personalized for the end user, is absolutely the future of publishing. You can have your own family cookbook with Grandma's recipe through to Martha Stewart's recipe."

It appears that unbeknown to Bolwell, the future (much like President Obama) has already arrived. RWW has already covered a number of companies where products are produced on an individual basis and personalized to the user. Below is a list of companies that allow users to upload, price and purchase their personalized books:

1. Blurb: Blurb offers users the chance to personalize books in a variety of formats. The quality of this product is extremely striking and buyers can opt for a number of page layouts and finishes. The company is one of the few businesses able to earn healthy revenue in our down economy.

2. Lulu: Similar to Blurb, Lulu also allows customers to personalize and create books. Users can upload photos from their Facebook, Flickr and Photobucket accounts as well as directly from their computers. The finished products are sold in the Lulu online storefront as eBooks or physical hard covers. The company even offers square, compact and wallet sized options.

3. CreateSpace: In late 2007, Amazon launched CreateSpace as an on-demand book publishing service. In addition to being able to create a personalized book and sell it in the Amazon storefront, users can also create Kindle-specific books, audio CDs, MP3s, DVD's and video downloads. While the service isn't as sleek as Lulu or Blurb, the potential to reach the Amazon audience is a huge draw to those looking to earn money with their creative talents.

4. Scribd: Another site with a large audience, Scribd recently launched their own store this past April. With 60 million unique visitors per month, the company is a great platform for those looking to publish their original works. Budding authors can price and publish their books alongside Simon and Schuster titles in the Scribd storefront. For now, the storefront only services the eBook audience.

5. Tastebook: Both Grandma and Martha Stewart's recipes can live side-by-side in this personalized cookbook making site. Featured in a RWW article on recipe resources, this tool offers users the chance to personalize cookbooks and produce them on an individual basis.

The Obama Time Capsule is obviously a very cool project, but it's clear to see that personalized book production is certainly not a new concept. That being said, regardless of whether or not it's a paradigm shifter for publishing, the quality of The Obama Time Capsule, coupled with Smolan's recognition as a TIME photographer and TED speaker will likely still draw fans.

UPDATE: It turns out Obama's Time Capsule IS actually made possible by Blurb's global print partner network, a partnership which exclusively uses the HP Indigo digital printing presses. Other partners include Google, Facebook, AOL, Glam Media and paper manufacturer NewPage.

While there are inborn traits that help to develop character, often character comes from inspiration. Ask any enterprenuer about who set the bar for them and you will hear the name of another enterprenuer, a historical figure, a writer, even a fictional character. So in this post, we look at five very different books that share a common theme - remarkable people.

1. Inside Steve's Brain, by Leander Kahney

There's probably no one in the tech industry who doesn't know or admire Steve Jobs. Tireless innovator and one of the fathers of computer technology, Steve has had a hand in many modern marvels. His first famous 'child' was Macintosh, and the latest is iPhone. Steve also revolutionized the music industry by taking music online, and helped push computer animation by funding Pixar.

How has he done it? By being relentless, passionate and focused. Steve in the early days was reputed to be impossible to work with. Yet, he is widely admired and recognized as a great leader. The bottom line is that Steve gets the job done.

Kahney's book, which Richard recently reviewed here, is a compact edition that gives insight into Steve's character. You will learn how Steve utilizes creativity, focus, and at times the stick, to drive Apple's team to build amazing products.

2. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami is one of the best modern Japanese writers. His books are creative and unique, his writing is an inspiration. Murakami, not only a gifted writer, is also a remarkable character. In this book he describes his journey as a runner. At age 30 he quit smoking and started running.

Training tirelessly he readied himself for his first marathon. He flew to Athens and, retracing the original route, ran to the town of Marathon.

Since then, Murakami has competed in at least one marathon and triathlon a year. He trains with the same discipline with which he iterates to perfect his writing. This short book reveals simple yet powerful truths. Reading these pages, Murakami emerges as an incredible force of focus and will.

To learn more, read our companion post: What Startups Can Learn From Haruki Murakami.

3. It's Not About the Bike, by Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong is one of the most impressive athletes in modern sport. The stamina and character needed to win the Tour De France are impressive, but Lance's most impressive race was not on the bike. Shortly after winning his first world championship at age 25 Lance confronted testicular cancer. He fought it for a year and won. This book focuses on this fight and connects the dots in his life.

Written in a simple yet profound way, the book inspires on every page. Armstrong reveals that cancer made him a different, better person. It reshaped his character from boyish, feisty, more physical rider to a wiser, patient and more tactical cyclist. Ultimately he argues that if it wasn't for cancer he could never have become great.

The book relates an inspiring journey, the crux of which is: never quit and never back down.

4. The Maverick and His Machine, by Kevin Maney

Today IBM might not be the most inspirational company around, but its story is full of innovation and character. IBM owes its status to the pair of Thomas J. Watson, Snr and Jnr, two different men passionate about business and computing. The book is a biography of IBM from its inception as CTR (Computing Tabulating Recording) Company to the defining player in modern computing.

Watson Snr's style was a mix of carrot and stick. He demanded a lot from employees and focused on corporate culture. He planted roots of growth and scale that were leveraged by his son, Thomas J. Watson Jnr, who succeeded his father as CEO. Watson Jnr took the company to the next level, pushing it into the mainframe business.

The father and son blend in a single narrative and what emerges is IBM's character of strength, passion, focus and success. Even though the skills that created IBM differ from those needed to build a successful startup, the book is a great read for every enterprenuer.

5. The Pixar Touch, by David Pierce

All five books on our list are full of strong characters, but the Pixar team had to endure plenty to realise their computer animation dream. For two decades the team had to work odd tangential jobs to stay alive. Remarkably the group stayed together and survived thanks to Steve Jobs, who bought Pixar for $5M from Lucas Digital and (reluctantly) kept the company going through the years until its triumphant launch of Toy Story and the later multi-billion dollar exit to Disney.

What help the Pixar team win was an obsession to make computer animation happen. Even while Disney and Lucas Digital were dismissing the promise of making movies using computer graphics, the team stuck together. They continued to build and enhance their software and algorithms, ultimately leading to a set of solutions that enabled hits like Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. The Pixar story is an inspirational lesson on how enterpreneurs can succeed in business and life.

And now tell us about people and books that have inspired you and helped build your character.

Top image: Daniel Y. Go

One of the great discoveries of modern science was the realization of how interconnected the world is. The deterministic, Newtonian view of a clockwork Universe was replaced by the much more dynamic, uncertain and entangled world of Quantum Mechanics. The new world is the one where Godel forever cut hopes for completeness in mathematics and Turing showed that computation, like the future, is fundamentally unpredictable. Despite these unexpected setbacks, modern science is wonderful, powerful and thought provoking - and relevant to technologists.

1. Godel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstadter

This Pulitzer Prize winning book is a mind-opening journey that spans science, computation, zen, art, music and much much more. The book is most unusual in the way it tells its story. Some chapters are dialogs between Achilles and Tortoise. Other chapters are focused on Bach's fugues and the theorems of great German mathematician Kurt Gordel.

Throughout the book, Hofstadter discusses the work of M.C. Escher, a painter famous for his paradoxical paintings that question how the mind perceives space. In addition, the book features chapters about modern genetics, zen buddhism and neuroscience. All of these seemingly diverse topics come together to discuss recursive structures, the mind, artificial intelligence and computation.

2. Complexity by Mitchell Waldrop

Stephen Hawking once said: "I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Complexity science is one of the most important breakthroughs in recent history. Unlike the traditional specialized approach to science, complexity focuses on patterns and properties that exist across different branches.

Mitchell Waldrop's book introduces readers to complexity by telling a story about the people who brought it into the spotlight. Among the characters we meet are economists, physicists, biologists and computer scientists responsible for establishing the Institute of Complex Systems in Santa Fe New Mexico. Through their stories, Walldrop introduces the reader to the wonderful and profound world of complex systems.

3. At Home in the Universe, by Stuart Kauffman

Dr. Stuart Kauffman is one of the characters in the Walldrop's book. He is one of the most passionate, dedicated and original thinkers about Complex Systems. A few decades ago, while in medical school, he wanted to understand gene networks and came up with a model known as K-N nets. Fascinated with the ideas, he choose science instead of medicine and went on to work on complexity.

In this book he explores a range of fascinating topics - like gene networks, auto-catalytic sets, rugged landscapes. It ultimately leads to the question of the origin of life. In this challenging book, Kauffman postulates that life is not an accident, but an expected and even inevitable consequence of the laws of self-organization.

4. The User Illusion, by Tor Norretranders

During the twentieth century scientists made amazing discoveries about the brain. They also discovered just how little we know about the function of what is likely to be the most interesting and powerful object in the universe. Among the large number of books written on the subject, this book written by Danish journalist Tor Norretranders is a standout.

The books builds on physics, particularly thermodynamics, to explain the fascinating aspects of human consciousness. While the first few chapters are somewhat challenging, the crux of the book will give you a unique, eye-opening perspective on the interplay between the human brain and mind. Among the shocking things in the book is a notion that it takes a half a second for our consciousness to process an event. Knowing that, it is difficult to think about the world in the same way.

5. Programming the Universe, by Seth Lloyd

Quantum Information Theory is one of the hottest topics in science and Seth Lloyd is one of the hottest figures in the field. Famous for his bold predictions about the computational capacity of the universe, Dr. Lloyd belongs to the club that thinks that we live inside of a gigantic quantum computer. Sounds interesting? It is!

The book works the readers through the ideas of quantum information theory, explaining qbits, quantum superpositions and computation based on atoms. He argues that random fluctuations in the quantum foam produced higher-density areas, then matter, stars, galaxies and life. His conclusion is the same as Kauffman's - life is not an accident nor its divine. Rather, life is a consequence of the laws of computation and self-organization.

Conclusion

There are so many great science books on topics ranging from physics and biology to economics and social science. These books discuss patterns in the world around us. And many of the themes are very familiar to us, technologists. This is why it is important for us to keep up and know what is going on in the world of science. Besides being fascinating, it is increasingly applicable and useful.

And now, please share with us your favorite science books - the ones that made a big impact on you and helped expand your mind.

Find Your Passion and Commit to it

Murakami was a late bloomer, writing his first work at age 29. One day while watching baseball he realized his destiny was to be a writer. At the time he owned a jazz bar, yet the experience at the baseball game had a lasting effect. He started to write and over the next few years his life changed.

Whether you're a blogger or software engineer, you've experienced the same feeling: a blog post that has to be written; a piece of code that needs to exist. These moments of clarity are precious and we should follow them whenever possible.

Murakami faced a choice between his business and a career as a writer. Though the future was uncertain, he made a commitment to writing and sold his jazz bar. Soon after focusing on writing full-time, he realized his fiction suffered because he was out of shape. Murakami quit smoking and started running. Today he is a marathon man and runs every day.

Each startup always faces choices. Making a commitment, focusing, and then giving it your all, is the key. There are always obstacles, but if you know what you're after you can overcome them.

Stick With What You Know

I'd read Murakami novels before his autobigraphical piece. Now I realize how much of him is in his novels. His books frequently talk about jazz and one novel, South of the Border, West of the Sun, is about an owner of a jazz bar. Murakami loves cats and uses them to create unique, mesmerizing imagery. Most of all, Murakami writes about love, passion and loneliness.

A few years back, I decided to make a real estate investment in Florida. Excited, I did a lot of research and was talking about it to my father-in-law, an experienced businessman. His advice: stick with what you know. While initially disappointed, I then realized he was right. I am a software engineer and a tech entrepreneur. I should be betting on my startup instead.

Many individuals and companies make the mistake of jumping into areas they know little about. A few succeed, but most never make it. It is better to start a company around the topic you're an expert in or know a lot about. This will give you an edge and ensure you're not wasting your time.

Start Even and Finish First

Murakami's life is a routine. He rises early around 5am and goes to bed by 10pm. He declines late-night dinners and outings. He runs and works on his books daily. He achieves his magic by pushing equally every day.

When Brad Feld, an early stage technology VC and a marathon runner, recently completed his 11th marathon, he re-learnt this lesson during the run. In the recap on his blog he wrote:

I started strong. Too strong. Rule #1 of the marathon is to hold plenty back at the beginning so you have it left at the end. I went through the halfway point (13.1m) at 2:20, on track for a sub 4:45. I tightened up at mile 15 and slowed a notch, thinking I still had a shot at sub 5:00. At mile 19 I went down another notch and was now slogging through 13-minute miles. At this point I knew I wouldn't break 5:00 and my goal shifted from "break 5 hours" to "finish this thing".

The first time I realized this lesson was watching Cathy Freeman win gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She won by running like a robot, with uniform speed through the entire course.

Startups are intense. Run too fast and you'll burn out. Many young entrepreneurs think startups are like sprints, when you just race from the start to the finish line. In fact, startups are more like marathons, so pace yourself.

Never Settle and Always Seek Creativity

Perhaps the most striking thing about Murakami is his creativity. My favorite Murakami book is Wind-up Bird Chronicle, a mesmerising "experiential" piece of fiction. As you read you experience a world of mystical images, ideas and characters.

Each Murakami novel is different. The author never settles, constantly seeking new ways to express himself. Remarkably, he says writing is not easy for him. Such creative work is carefully crafted. It seems like an outcome of pure passion, but it is not. The author seeks to break the methods he created yesterday and move on towards unexplored territory.

Passion and creativity are the two most important factors for a startup. Without these key ingredients, there is no success. But just like the artist needs to reinvent himself, so also do startups. It won't be the original wave of creativity that will carry you through, instead it will be the quest and the will to never settle that will make your dreams come true.

Conclusion

The beads of sweat drip off my face as I run up the hill. It is a mild summer Sunday in New Jersey and I enjoy my regular running route. With each step, the pieces of this post crystallize in my head. I know I have to write it, because Murakami can make a difference in your startup life too. Steadily as I climb I think about this man, his will and his magical fiction.

My iPod starts playing a faster beat, but I do not speed up. I've done this many times on this course to my dismay, so now I know better. I treat this course like a startup. It is a mini marathon where I run evenly and ponder these cool and creative things in my head.

And now please tell us what writer you find inspirational and helpful in your startup life.

This book has a lot of business lessons in it for budding startup entrepreneurs, so for that reason alone I recommend it to our readers. For example when Steve Jobs returned as Apple CEO in the 90's, one of the first things he did was cut down the number of products Apple had - from around 40, to just 4. The book describes how Jobs went about simplifying Apple's brand and focusing in on the key products that consumers wanted. This is something a lot of startups and media companies would do well to emulate.

Also compelling are the stories behind the phenomenal success of the candy-colored iMacs, the iPod, the Apple Store, and other Apple products of this era. I'd read much of this before in media articles and the like, but Kahney does a great job of bringing all those stories together in one book, while adding new quotes and commentary from key Apple staff members. For example on the Apple Store:

"We said, we want our stores to create an ownership experience for the customer," explained (Apple's Ron) Johnson. The store should be about the lifetime of the product, not the moment of the transaction.

Leander Kahney obviously knows his stuff when it comes to Apple. He is a news editor for Wired.com and the main author of the Cult of Mac blog. He previously wrote two other Apple books, The Cult of Mac and The Cult of iPod. I may have browsed through one or both of those books before, but Inside Steve's Brain is a more memorable look at the person behind much of Apple's success today. I highly recommend it, even if you're not an Apple user.

On that note, here's my story about my Mac conversion...

I didn't become a passionate Machead until the last couple of years. I had used Apple products in the 80's and 90's (my primary computer in my Uni years in the early 90's was a Macintosh). But I have always been a bit wary about Apple's hip factor and the cult-like behavior of its more rabid fans. And yes, I am one of those people who finds 'The Mac Guy' in the current TV ads just a little too smug (I feel a bit sorry for Windows Guy, who is actually far more like the typical nerds that I know and love). However I've came around to being a Mac Guy. I currently use a Macbook as my main computer, and I am going to buy an iMac next; I have a couple of iPods, I use iTunes, I visit Apple Stores whenever I'm in America, and of course I am a huge fan and fervent user of the iPhone. I will probably even buy an Apple TV in the near future - and then the Digital Lifestyle will be almost exclusively Apple for me!

It's hard to ignore Apple products when they are so beautifully designed, simple to use, ground-breaking (e.g. iPhone), highly functional, and (yes) hip! If you want to know the reasons behind all that, this book provides excellent insights.

Are you an Apple user? If so what's your story?