Since I’m in the IT-business working for a premedia/prepress firm, I have always been interested in E-ink or digital paper. Ever since I started working for an Internet firm in 1995, it has been my strong belief that paper (except maybe toilet paper) will be replaced by something else. After all: chopping down trees just to make paper from it seems so archaic and political incorrect to me. In fact I always said that trees will become what those fluffy white baby seals where in the 80’s: it is political incorrect to kill/chop them down. Off course it has been tried to replace paper with a screen. But, to cut a long story short, the characteristics of a screen are simply not good enough when it comes to reading: one of the many reasons by people keep printing out e-mails and webpages. Simply because a screen does not offer the same DPI (and thus readability) as print/paper.
Some years ago Philips, among others, started working with E-ink or electronic paper. A complete different way to display text on a screen with the advantages of paper (DPI, readability) and the benefits of digital screen (dynamic content). It has taken the E-ink corporation a long time to come up with some pratical applications for this. But this year I think we will see a lot of them popping up and I predict E-ink will become mainstream.
For instance, Lexar has announced a USB stick with a storage capacity meter on it. So now you can see at a glance (without putting it in a computer) how much storage you have. Another company, A-data, has done the same with SD-cards with a capacity display. Now there is a really pratical application: I am sure professional photographers are going to love this feature. In a way it reminds me about the capacity readers on batteries, put there by – for instance – Duracell. Really handy feature! Also, Sony has announced the Sony Reader, a e-ink based electronic book reader. And some newspapers (like in Belgium) are offering beta-testers the chance to enjoy their newspaper digitally.
I do think that e-ink still has a long way to go. So far it reminds me of the first cars they build; made to resemble a carriage without a horse because that was people’s frame of reference. But I am really convinced that it will, eventually, replace paper in most forms and change the way we read magazines or newspapers. So once again: I predict that 2006 is the year we will see e-ink go mainstream and will be applied in many new ways. Besides the examples I show here I think of e-newspapers, mobile phones and the use of e-ink information signs in public places.
