Photo Caption: Nick Sheridon and Fereshteh Lesani show off the first roll of Gyricon E-PAPER producedby 3M partners. (Credit: Xerox).
I was online reading an article about the future of electronic paper on TFOT (The Future of Things). Frankly one of my many ideas to become ridiculously rich is to create a “book” where all the various formats reside in a single compact packet. Not only would there be printed pages in both normal and large print, but also audio editions in several languages and even a 3D holographic performance (think Star Wars “Obi Wan - You’re our only hope!” projection of Princess Leia by R2D2). It can not be too heavy for me to comfortably read in bed and it must be waterproof so I can use it at the beach or by a pool. Well, I do not have any prototypes as yet but I am sort of busy. I also do not want to deal with all the copyright issues.
So back to the evolution of paper, I remember making paper with several enthusiastic third graders prior to Valentine’s Day. Fun but much work was involved so I am curious about this new ePaper. This before-mentioned article caught my eye. After perusing it, I felt so limited in my money making visions. TFOT interviews Nick Sheridon, who back in the early 1970s, while working at Xerox, developed the Gyricon which was supposed to be the technology for the Alto personal computer. This technology was adapted and perfected to be a platform for the new e-paper. I was floored when I read his answer to the following question: “How do you see the future of e-paper?”
“I like to tell people that the holy grail of e-paper will be embodied as a cylindrical tube, about 1 centimeter in diameter and 15 to 20 centimeters long, that a person can comfortably carry in his or her pocket. The tube will contain a tightly rolled sheet of e-paper that can be spooled out of a slit in the tube as a flat sheet, for reading, and stored again at the touch of a button. Information will be downloaded—there will be simple user interface—from an overhead satellite, a cell phone network, or an internal memory chip. This document reader will be used for e-mail, the Internet, books downloaded from a global digital library that is currently under construction, technical manuals, newspapers (perhaps in larger format), magazines, and so forth, anywhere on the planet. It will cost less than $100, and nearly everyone will have one!”
This concept just leapfrogs over my idea for all-in-one book. There are photos of e-paper wrist watches, the ability of incorporate it on packaging (your grocery shelves will never be the same) and other Flash Gordon like applications. I am sort of daydreaming along until a certain phrase kicks in. Did he say “GLOBAL DIGITAL LIBRARY”? There goes my job security!
Now I share the article with my coworkers and much debate ensues. Responses range from “Big Brother” will control the access to knowledge and we are all doomed to that’s a nice idea but not in my lifetime. My take on it is: I am going to keep on working on my MLS. I just see too many copyright issues over content for this to work before I am ready to retire. The technology may be on the horizon but people will fight to the(ir) death over their right to control access to their material.
2 comments:
My father was a Xerox salesman and so we used to get sneak peeks at new innovations when I was young. I can remember when my older brother travelled to the west coast and my Dad had him stop at a Xerox office and fax a photo back east. Listening to my father describe a fax machine back then was amazing - like outer space tales. We just could not wrap our brains around it. The same thing with e-paper. I've been hearing about it for a few years now and wonder if in another 25 years I'll be running around with my little cylinder. Maybe...
Your imagination and creativity come through in your vision for your version of an e-book! But why a cylinder? When I think of something contained in a cylinder, all I can think of is the cryptex in the DaVinci Code (or a roll of bathroom tissue). Why not something wallet-like that folds in half and fits in your pocket?
Keep imagining!
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