Dear Karen: Okay. I hear you loud and clear. You only want Presto-related information and for me to be less assumptive and invasive. Thanks for the feedback.

Dear Tom: My company didn't create this book. And the company that did decided to do it about the President, not about Apollo 11. I could have declined to tell Presto subscribers about this interesting concept of personalized publishing, and maybe I should have. But, there is only one opportunity to tell about something that is new to the world. And that is when it is new. If I had waited until the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th book to be published using this technology, there would probably have been no reason for me to tell a constituency about it -- because it would have been old news. Personally, I did not vote for our President, but I do not "hate" companies that report the events of the day. In this case, Presto is not even affiliated with the company that makes this book. I thought the information was interesting enough to pass along. I am truly sorry you are offended.

Dear Elizabeth, As I mentioned in my other replies to angry comment posts, I have nothing to do with Obama. I didn't even vote for him. And, the only assuming I thought I was doing, was assuming that Presto subscribers liked to send personalized messages, and they might be interested in the world's first truly mass-customizable large format photo book. Or, that if you weren't interested, that you would just disregard the email, not cancel your Presto subscription. I'm sorry if I offended you by sending you this email. It would certainly have been better if this first-of-its-kind book was about a different topic, but it wasn't. So all I can ask you to do is please accept my apology.

Well Rhonda, I did not assume everyone would be interested in an homage to the President. My assumption -- incorrect, as it turns out -- was that people would be interested in the technology because it is the new news. The president is the old news. And the reason for choosing this subject matter to showcase mass-customized large format photo books is that this is the first one that has ever been done. Other books have had customizable slip covers, and there are some children's books that allow you to insert your kid's name and/or photo into them, but as for "coffee table" books, this is the first. So it was not the subject matter I cared about. In fact, I'm not a fan of the president. And, the only assumption I made -- again, incorrectly -- was that people could focus on the interesting technology and separate it from the subject of the book. That was a mistake and I apologize for any offense it caused.

I neglected to say in my last reply to Dina's post that I am truly sorry for sending you an email you found offensive. As you said, Judy, "the technology you present is wonderful" and that was my only purpose in sending the email; to let you all know of this fascinating new concept. I assumed that people who disliked the President or who were uninterested in this technology would just disregard the email. I was wrong. Emotions are running very high on this subject. But please let me emphasize that my note was not to do with politics, rather it was to do with technology. That said, I apologize for picking this highly charged subject matter to introduce this new technology.

Thanks for your comment, Dina. But truly, I am uninterested in Obama's "rise to power" but am fascinated with the concept of mass-customized publishing. It is a shame that this new technology may be overshadowed for some by the subject matter. But truly, the only reason I blogged about this topic and shared the information with Presto users is because it is an interesting technology. For the record, I voted for McCain. But I also accept that like it or not, Obama is our president, and I did not want my personal politics to prevent me talking about an interesting topic. Most of all, my friend Rick Smolan is a truly great guy and a fabulous photographer and publisher (have you seen his "Day in the Life of America" books!). And I just wanted to help him with his project.

I don’t know…“innocence”? ; ) I probably lost a bit of my “swagger” with the crew's laughter. It's good to be knocked down a notch every once in a while. Good for the soul (if not for the ego)