The Future of Print: E-ink

Books and printed works seem to be the media source that has the largest disconnect of what people assume to be happening, and what actually IS happening. Many people assume that with the advent of different technology, books as a medium are slowly dying off. With different mediums such as television and the internet, it seems like books don't have much in terms of use in a contemporary setting, and most futurists and sci-fi geeks don't picture the twenty-first century man picking up a light novel for entertainment in their depictions of the future.

But despite these assumptions, books as a medium are still going strong. While an astounding amount of information is available on the internet, much of that information is cited from books. At the same time, print icons such as Spider-Man, Frodo Baggins, and Harry Potter are being moved onto the big screen, and many other printed works such as the graphic novel "Watchmen" and the recent hit book "Twilight" are making the jump as well. Informational reading such as textbooks are still thriving as a business. If the hundreds of dollars spends on textbooks each semester doesn't demonstrate that, the gamut of self-help books published and sold every month surely will.

In other words, books are not dying. They are, however, taking key innovations from other mediums in the same way that the other mediums have been influenced by books. One such innovation is the invention of "E-ink." E-ink is a new technology with the aim of replacing physical ink and paper. E-ink is essentially a microfilm, containing various capsules (which are invisible to the naked eye) of positively charged "white" particles and negatively charged "black" particles. The white particles are automatically pulled to the top of the capsules, which is attached to the "screen" of the device, and makes it appear white. Particles then dragged down from the top in specific arrangements, darkening them in order to make various letters, symbols, and shapes. The particles can all be pulled down and lifted again by a minimal to darken or brighten the screen as the situation demands.

E-ink has already been integrated into "ebook" portable reading devices such as Amazon's Kindle and the Sony Reader. Beyond that, E-ink has been integrated into other technologies as well, such as certain cell phones and laptop computers. As it stands now, E-ink is often considered as a "replacement" for paper-printed book. In large part, the general aim seems to be to be rid of the numerous paper books one might own and instead put them on a portable device of their choosing. However, the youtube link provided above shows a fascinating use that is actually the opposite of what the suggested idea. The video is of the October 2008 issue of the Esquire magazine, which actually integrates E-ink into the pages of their own magazine. The result is a unique, if somewhat alarming, look at what may be coming in the future of print.

In Ridley Scott's 1980s sci-fi masterpiece "Blade Runner," the backgrounds and settings visually assault your senses by the sheer amount of all of the things that are glowing and shiny. Nearly everything that is interacted with has some sort of glowing feature, but there is a startling lack of books. With E-ink and ebook technology, the printed word appears to be following its media counterparts right into such a setting. While books have largely remained the same since the printing press, new innovations are right at the doorstep. The as-of-now shockingly dull book and magazine section and magazine section may soon be completely revamped and replaced with glowing, interactive products and displays, while still retaining the same function.