A Look at the Paperless Newspapers of the Future

A Cambridge, Massachusetts company called E Ink is setting its sights on the future of newspapers, which they believe will be entirely electronic. E Ink has created a special viewing screen that doesn’t just contain text, like the Amazon Kindle and other e-readers – it can show 4-bit grayscale photos and videos as well, producing an effect similar to that seen in the movie ‘Minority Report’, and in those ‘magical newspapers’ in the Harry Potter movies.

From The Morning Sun:

The company, which has 120 employees in Cambridge, produces kits that other companies can adapt to their own e-reader devices — for example, the Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader. The most recent electronic paper, low-power screens feature black-and-white text and images.

Perhaps the company’s biggest coup was Esquire magazine’s October issue — its 75th anniversary issue — which featured an E Ink display on the cover with the blinking words: “The 21st century begins now.” The inside cover featured an E Ink-designed display featuring an advertisement for Ford Flex.

The display received accolades and plenty of press: The New York Times and Boston Globe did stories about the feat. But not all reviews were glowing. Wired magazine wrote on its blog, “…what is presented as the future of digital/print convergence is little more than ink mashed with some underutilized circuitry.”

E Ink believes that their technology will be a considerable asset to newspapers, which have seen their readerships decline and have been forced to lay off employees in huge numbers.  The technology could also be applied to books, including textbooks. The device allows for two-way interactivity, meaning you can write on the display and it will recognize what you write.

E Ink is currently testing its first all-plastic display, which they say has held up to military tests. They also plan to unveil screens capable of showing color video.

As a kid who grew up in the ‘80s, it’s so cool to see all this futuristic technology finally become reality. It seems like we’re really picking up the pace with all of this amazing tech that used to seem so far away. Exciting times!

Link [The Morning Sun]

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