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Hardware

Electronic Paper Advances 207

Posted by timothy from the let's-hope-so dept.
ke4roh writes "Electronic paper comes a step closer," says a Reuters article today. The paper, made by E-ink bends and makes for a higher contrast display, perhaps for e-books and cell phones. It reminds me of Jim Willard's Paper Computer, but their web site is history. Slashdot previously discussed color electronic paper."
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Electronic Paper Advances More

Electronic Paper Advances

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  • Scratchy? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Loopsnut ( 589418 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:09PM (#5905137)
    Will I have to worry about electrocution when I wipe my bum?

  • I might as well be one of the first to say it.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by L. VeGas ( 580015 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:11PM (#5905152) Homepage Journal
    Electronic aper comes a step closer

    Get your hands off me, you damn, dirty electronic aper.

  • What has changed? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by geeber ( 520231 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:12PM (#5905156)
    Considering that E-ink has been around for quite some time (probably more than a year, though I am not sure), anyone know what is substaintially new about this press release? The article is detail-lite.

  • Recycling (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rf0 ( 159958 ) <rghf@fsck.me.uk> on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:12PM (#5905158) Homepage
    Well this saves on problem of cutting down loads of trees (well to an extent) but I wonder how much energy is needed to produce this. Also is it going to replace getting the daily newspaper on the way to getting on the train? Also what about if it goes flat? Some sort of solar panel prehaps?

    Rus

    • Re:Recycling (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Cpt_Kirks ( 37296 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:42PM (#5905440)
      Also what about if it goes flat?

      IIRC, it only uses power when it changes state (text changes). If it runs out of juice, you are simply stuck on the current page.

    • Duh! (Score:3, Funny)

      by Malfourmed ( 633699 )
      Also what about if it goes flat?
      It's paper - it's already flat! ;-)

  • Wearable displays (Score:4, Funny)

    by deke_2503 ( 569986 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:12PM (#5905160)
    Just what I needed, clothes that can change style at my command! If I get a shirt made of electronic paper, one minute it can be red, the next blue, and then I can make it look tie-dyed!

    Now, whenever I wear the same shirt every day of the week, nobody will know!

  • My fav quote (Score:5, Funny)

    by daveatwork ( 655626 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:13PM (#5905163)
    My fav quote from one of my fav business men, Mr. Dyson: "A paperless office is about as likely as a paperless toilet." ;-) always makes me chuckle... Dave

  • sci-fi wins again (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Flunitrazepam ( 664690 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:13PM (#5905167) Journal
    Anyone else read Stephen Baxter? In nearly all his stories (very hard sci-fi), there are 'softscreens' which are essentually these paper displays His stories are usually set 5-10 years in the future, which would put him pretty close to the mark on this technology. I do wonder about the power supply though. Seeing that I can barely get a day's worth of stand-by on my cell phone with a tiny text screen it seems keep these things powered up might require an equally revolutionary energy store.

    • Re:sci-fi wins again (Score:5, Interesting)

      by rf0 ( 159958 ) <rghf@fsck.me.uk> on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:19PM (#5905225) Homepage
      Well if they are used in some portable sence how about trying to get some kenetic energy. I remeber a while ago Compaq (as it was then) was playing with the idea of using power from the kayboard to recharge batteries. now that was a good idea

      Rus

    • Re:sci-fi wins again (Score:5, Informative)

      by Saige ( 53303 ) <evil.angela@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:23PM (#5905258) Journal
      I do wonder about the power supply though. Seeing that I can barely get a day's worth of stand-by on my cell phone with a tiny text screen it seems keep these things powered up might require an equally revolutionary energy store.

      The thing to remember when talking about e-ink is that power will not be needed to keep information displayed. Power will be required for the wireless data reception, and for changing what is displayed, but various e-ink technologies that have been mentioned all have means of showing information that are not energy intensive.

      I'm not sure offhand exactly how it works, but usually involves some sort of small particle or such with, say, black on one side, and white on the other, and they are rotated to show a particular pattern of 'pixels', and then take no energy to remain in that pattern.

      This is one of the big wins of e-ink - along with the fact that done properly, it should look little different from plain old paper. (though it is definitely not there yet)

      If you equipped an 'e-ink newspaper' with the ability for the user to query for updates, instead of the paper constantly checking a wireless frequency, then power consumption could be quite minimal.

      I do look forward to fully interactive e-ink, so that, say, you could have a notebook with e-ink paper, you jot down notes with a stylus, the paper shows the proper marks so it feels just like regular writing, but with the options to save notes, recall them later, and memory that allows one notebook to keep the information that a whole stack of real notebooks couldn't hold. Can you imagine having an e-ink journal, for example, that could hold a lifetime's worth of data in it, so you could recall anything you've ever written/drawn on the e-ink pages?

      • Re:sci-fi wins again (Score:4, Funny)

        by Realistic_Dragon ( 655151 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:44PM (#5905459) Homepage
        "I do look forward to fully interactive e-ink, so that, say, you could have a notebook with e-ink paper, you jot down notes with a stylus, the paper shows the proper marks so it feels just like regular writing, but with the options to save notes, recall them later, and memory that allows one notebook to keep the information that a whole stack of real notebooks couldn't hold."

        We already have this - it's called an etch-a-sketch. To save documents, don't shake it. To erase documents, do shake it.

        You can even save many pages (write smaller) and best of all the batteries last forever!
        • Lurr: We demand to eat one human for each Omicronian that was eaten.
          Zapp: Fair enough. How many is that?
          Kif: 198 Billion, sir.
          Lurr: Very well. You will provide us with 198 billion humans. And, uh, small fries.
          Ndunda: Lurr!
          Lurr: Oh, all right, cottage cheese.
          Kif: [Whispers to Zapp] Sir, there aren't that many human beings.
          Zapp: A thought occurs: There aren't that many humans.
          Lurr: We'll wait a few weeks while you shore up the numbers.
          Zapp: Hmm? 198 billi
      • The e-paper systems that I've seen involve electrostaticly charged black balls in a white solution. When you charge a plate on one side of the cell, the balls move to that side and stick there, turning the cell black.

        Really, interactive e-ink isn't that technologicaly different from normal e-paper. You just need a pressure sensitive coating that generates a charge (like, say, piezoelectric crystals) and a button to erase it. Then, you just need some extra circuitry to save the state somewhere. Read it
      • If it uses so little power, it could be powered from the microwave energy coming from your cellphone, or other peoples cell phones around you. Perhaps the cellphone could be constantly 'connected' to the e-paper which would allow you to download new content, or surf the internet. The cellphone could also monitor power consumption needs and perhaps give the e-paper a little boost when needed.
        Just an idea, but it would be a good convergence of technology

  • Some good info... (Score:4, Informative)

    by LamerX ( 164968 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:15PM (#5905186) Journal
    Here are some good links for those of you who want to know more...

    http://www.eink.com/

    http://www.biblio-tech.com/BTR901/January_2001/e -i nk_for_e-books__.html

    ink_for_e-books__.html
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi /english/sci/tech/newsid_1 292000/1292852.stm

    http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0, 10 738,2656348,00.html

  • You just know what will happen though.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by gilesjuk ( 604902 ) <giles@jones.zen@co@uk> on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:16PM (#5905189)
    Some idiot will ask how to put it into the photocopier or fax machine :)

  • The disposability problem and convergence (Score:4, Interesting)

    by VT_hawkeye ( 33442 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:18PM (#5905218) Homepage Journal
    I'd worry that e-paper won't get past the disposability problem.

    One of the attractions of newspapers and magazines is that you can just get rid of them when you're done with them -- unless you have a compulsive desire to keep archives of the local paper, you probably throw it away, recycle it, or (in mass transit settings) leave it for the next guy once you're done with it. People already complain about having too much stuff to keep track of (hence the convergence attempts between PDAs, cell phones and digital cameras); an e-paper notebook would just add to that problem.

  • In the same vein... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by foo fighter ( 151863 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:20PM (#5905234) Homepage
    Whatever happened to print on demand publishing. It seemed to be a promising technology, much more promising than "epaper" but I can't find anyone using it anywhere.

    It seems like it would be a sweet deal for publishers and book sellers by cutting out a major cost source: the distributor. You go to a bookstore, find a paperback you like and take it to the counter. While you are paying for it, your copy is being printed in the back room. It's spit out onto the counter and the copy you picked up from the shelf is put back. This would be great to keep from being overstocked in a pulp-fiction title or technology book past its useful life.

    Digital copiers (even digital color copiers) are not expensive anymore, so I just don't get why we don't see this.

    For the same reasons, I don't understand why retailers have stacks of CDs in bins. Just have a dupe machine in the back room with a digital color copier for the liner notes. While you are paying for your CD it's being created in the back room. Again, you cut a major expense by knocking out the distributor.

    I thought the Internet was supposed to enable exactly these types of situations, but they are no where to be seen.

    What's up with that?
    • Why stick the book at all? Why not browse through a terminal? Bookstores could be a lot smaller.

    • Re:In the same vein... (Score:2, Informative)

      by switcha ( 551514 )
      While it's a pitch for their server, Apple had a puff-piece on Trafford Publishing [apple.com] not too long ago. It's a brief look at how print-on-demand can be successful, at least on a small scale.

    • Re:In the same vein... (Score:3, Informative)

      by afidel ( 530433 )
      One major drawback is binding, the binding on the Xerox publish on demand system sucked horribly. I imagine given enough time and resources someone could come up with an almost instant binding solution that would work about as well as a paperback, but I don't think the tech will ever rival a well bound hardback book. The problem with the CD's would be players that can't read from dye based cd's and the fact that dye based cds dont last as long. It would however greatly lower the distribution cost of cd's bu
    • our friend Don Lancaster has it all figured out: get a good (PostScript) printer, Adobe Acrobat, and some other stuff -- see his Book-on-Demand library [tinaja.com].

    • Re:In the same vein... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Realistic_Dragon ( 655151 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:41PM (#5905431) Homepage
      "Digital copiers (even digital color copiers) are not expensive anymore, so I just don't get why we don't see this."

      When you are printing 20,000,000 books it is an order of magnitude cheaper to use a proper industrial printing system designed to print x,000,000 books than x,000,000 smaller printing systems. This is more than enough to overcome the cost of distribution.

      Your system would be better for small runs of reasonably unpopular books, but wouldn't be cost effective for (say) Harry Potter. Because without Harry Poter et al the small decentralised model wouldn't sell enough to make money, the whole thing ends up back as a centralised system with one big printer that just (in large part) ignores the less popular books that only a few people want.
    • For the same reasons, I don't understand why retailers have stacks of CDs in bins. Just have a dupe machine in the back room with a digital color copier for the liner notes. While you are paying for your CD it's being created in the back room. Again, you cut a major expense by knocking out the distributor.

      I have actually seen these in a few places.

      In Disneyland, for example, there is a music store which makes custom CDs for you (but only for certain Disney music: Soundtracks, music from the rides, etc).
    • Check out my former employer (as a temp):

      XLibris [xlibris.com]

      1. Authors sign up
      2. pay fee
      3. books get formatted, listed on Amazon (and Books In Print)
      4. folks order on Amazon (or their bookstore)
      5. print on demand publisher creates the book
      6. ships to store/customer
      7. royalty goes to Author.

      Authors get much higher royalties this way, but zero marketting, shelfspace, etc.

      Also, with XLibris (unlike some competitors), Authors keep their copyright. They can unlist with XLibris at any time, and sell their book to someo
    • This is from an editor who we had give a talk at an SF con recently.

      One problem is that contracts (at least, those signed before e-books and print-on-demand were anticipated) tend to have clauses giving certain rights back to the author once the book has been out of print for a certain period.

      It is ambiguous whether availability as an e-book or print-on-demand book constitutes being 'in print'. Publishers and authors may prefer to avoid the ambiguity. (Of course, they could renegotiate.)
    • Why would I want to wait for my book to print out. I go to the bookstore because it's there and I want it now. If I wanted to wait I'd go to amazon and wait 8 days for it to get to me.

    • Re:In the same vein... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by saneax ( 626501 )
      We are still far from printing online like u say there is a vein attempt being made. U can see at Internet Printing Protocols [pwg.org] which are yet to be defined and agreed upon. Particular of interest would be RFC2567 [ietf.org] and RFC2568 [ietf.org].

      When we understand the way books are printed we would only understand its very different than what we would assume.Burning CD's and printing Books is quite different, CD printing is in a digital format, while plain paper printing, binding is a lot more time consuming and costly affai

  • Electronic aper comes a step closer

    I hate every aper I see...from chimpan-a to chimpan-z.

  • http://msnbc.com/news/910466.asp?0cv=CB20 [msnbc.com]

    it reminds me of pictures of the first transistors bell labs- all bulky and ungainly

    but in it's picture you see the future gleaming bright ;-)

    • Yeah. Everyone forgets the main reason this is cool:

      Reflective lighting. No one cares about the brightness of a book (or how it looks in the sun) because it doesn't rely on backlighting/liquid crystal/whatever. The first time people use these devices, they'll be just as enthralled as the first time they played pong, and interacted with a television. It's that different.
    • Yup...it's pretty purty. But it has one drawback: as well as you can see the paper in the light, you won't be qable to spot it at night.

      Now if they could somehow combine this with OLED technology, you'd have a even more amazing piece of tech :)
  • Dehydrated water? Battery powered tissues? Glowing cars? Oh wait, they're already planning on building that [cnn.com].

  • The perfect companion... (Score:3, Funny)

    by lazlo ( 15906 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:43PM (#5905454) Homepage
    Cool, it's the perfect combination. Electronic paper to go in the printer attached to your cardboard computer. [slashdot.org]

    Now just add in a few wooden peripherals, and the occasional pigeon for the networking [ietf.org], and you'll be all set!

  • Evil E-Paper Application (Score:4, Funny)

    by StefanJ ( 88986 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @04:52PM (#5905540) Homepage Journal
    God, I probably shouldn't write this down, because it could get implemented for real and then even if the developer never saw this post I'd get blamed and . . .

    Anyway.

    Imagine if the price tags fixed on stores shelves were made of this stuff. Not only would it allow Wal-Mart to slash prices without using that hideous flying yellow smile-face robot*, but the prices could be CUSTOMIZED to YOU, flickering to show a new value as you enter an aisle.

    People who try to avoid this scheme by wearing retina-shield glasses or digging out there ID implant would be charged full price

    Stefan

    * Wal-Mart has done an excellent job covering up the Toledo incident, in which the store's slashbot disembowelled a kid wearing a number jersey. The splatter of blood on that diabolical smiling yellow face inspired a protest button that, for some reason, is still worn by comic book afficianodoes.

  • Fancy applications (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @05:16PM (#5905743)
    Instead of embedding it in paper, embed it in many more fabrics.

    - Dynamic camo for soldiers, and lots of James-Bond-ish gadgets like a programmable, dynamic passport

    - Fancy clothing that changes colour and motif (display your iTunes graphics on your shirt while dancing ? And imagine the hacking opportunities, displaying pr0n on your friends' back)

    - Animated (and highly annoying) packaging like that cereal cardbox from Minority Report

    - Ultrathin watches that consist just of a band of plastic, and maybe can display other useful information...

    - Animated programmable tattoos, like those of SciFi book "Vertical Horizon"

    The possibilities are nearly endless...

    I believe it'd be accompanied by technology that would make screens detachable, maybe associated with that "pocket server" by IBM, mentioned in a recent /. article. Now this "wearable computer" just needs some input device...
  • This kind of paper comes in handy when you are shopping.

    Yeah check said $1324.22 when I gave it to the cashier...

  • Helpful info in the article (Score:4, Funny)

    by Chairboy ( 88841 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @05:26PM (#5905826) Homepage
    From the article:
    "The human eye blends these resulting patterns of black- or white-topped capsules into text displayed in a traditional column."

    Oh, is THAT how pixels work?

  • Soon to be obsolete (Score:4, Funny)

    by SiliconEntity ( 448450 ) on Wednesday May 07, 2003 @06:27PM (#5906300)
    All these display technologies will soon be obsolete. Instead we'll wear glasses that can project a display onto the retina. You will be able to have a virtual screen pop up at will anywhere in your visual field, much like you can create a new window on your screen today.

    Once they get the technology to where the resolution and color looks good, you can use this to read the paper, books, browse the web, watch TV or a movie, play a video game, or do anything else that we use paper and electronic displays for today.

    Beyond that, future versions will lead to embedded reality, where the screens are synchronized with the environment. Any blank wall or flat surface can become a virtual display. It might be visible only to you, or if the data is on a public channel then everyone walking by can see it. This replaces billboards, window displays, even wall paint. Your house can be a virtual museum, with prints on the walls that change hourly.

    All this requires is improved retinal painting technology for the basic virtual display. The embedded reality is more difficult and will require position and environmental sensing, but with enough sensors around it won't be that hard.

    Electronic paper, flat-screen monitors, video displays, all will be obsolete in 15-20 years. The only place images will need to appear is on our retinas.
    • Instead we'll wear glasses that can project a display onto the retina. You will be able to have a virtual screen pop up at will anywhere in your visual field, much like you can create a new window on your screen today.

      I just can't wait to see the resulting advances in pop-up advertising technology. While you're driving to work a 3-dimensional electronic sprite pops into your field of vision and tries to sell you a fucking X-10 camera. You try to punch him out but each time you hit him three more pop up,

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