Belgian Newspaper Adopts Paper V.2

Antwerp - Spending hours reading the papers may be an ideal pastime on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
But what if your newspaper updated itself during the day? What if the pictures moved and the interviews could be listened to?
In Belgium, this is coming true - at least for a three-month trial period. The Antwerp-based daily De Tijd will soon become the world's first newspaper to publish a digital version on so-called 'electronic paper'.
Instead of buying your daily paper, from April 2006, 200 subscribers will be able to start the day by connecting a portable electronic device supplied by De Tijd to the internet and start downloading their daily paper. Updates will be automatic during the day, if subscribers have access to wireless technology.

Source

Personally, I have been waiting for the e-paper revolution with baited breath. Unfortunately, I can count the number of updates on the technology on three hands. Something piqued my interest again, and after googling I found this relatively recent tidbit. The possibilities for E-Paper, Electronic Ink, however you call it, is certainly mesmerizing on one hand, or just another intrusion into our quiet time, depending on who you ask.

A few more notes from the article:
-The electronic 'ink' has 16 levels of grey.
-The display is the size of two laptops, but needs 100 times less energy than a normal laptop screen. Based on an average use of three hours a day, the battery runs for more than a week.
-A storage space of 244 mega bytes
-Bruynseels says there will also be savings because no paper is being used. Newspapers such as The Times or the Wall Street Journal can go through 200,000 tons of newsprint per year. ( but what is the environmental impact? -TGDF )
-The electronic newspaper costs an astronomical 400 euros - but those who sign up for the experiment are not being charged. The assumption is, however, that costs will come down when the electronic daily goes into mass production.

Luddites, your day has come!

Luddites your day has come? I thought luddites rejected ALL technology post enlightenment? Maybe you meant Greens who are not luddites by any means(though some sound very Neo-Luddite'ish)

This is very good news either way. I can't wait till the implement this into laptops. I don't care if it's grayscale, it's perfect for E-Books. Just imagine how long a Laptop with an Ethanol fuel cell power pack, flash memory and a laptop CPU. A single charge can last days, maybe even weeks. Embedd solar collectors in the body and it could last much longer, especially if you're the outdoorsy type.

As for the environmental impact of this technology we have to take that into account for sure, then we gotta compare it with regular paper. I'm confident that it will be a net gain in the sustainability quotient based on a number of factors: Power Consuption, Net Mass per page, Reusability, Manufacturing Process, etc.

[edit on 15-3-2006 by sardion2000]

[edit on 15-3-2006 by sardion2000]

No, I meant it in the "Stop bothering, because now we've made ink and paper better" sort of way. Bad joke, bad use, bad Dr.Funk
The real enviromental concern is not this year or next, it's ten years down the road when color and sound are introduced to the technology. I'm just hoping we don't find a new model coming out every two years, slightly enhanced, and we've got piles of discarded e-papers. One can assume that recycling tech will have improved by that part, just pondering a point right now.
All in all, I'm just glad to see this tech get off the ground. The newspaper of tomorrow, today

Used up? I foresee people buying their one Epaper for news and just stick it into a USB port on their computer to get the "Print" edition. It doesn't have any backlighting so it will probably last for a looong time. Average rate at which display technologies last(by last I mean when the user gets bored of it and changes it up) is around 7-10 years.(I forget where I read that)

I'm only saying that technology changes. What's going to happen to all our CRT televisions when HD transmissions are the only ones available? Things like this don't happen ever few years, but signal a big problem when they do.
Say a significant portion of the developed populus buys into the e-paper revolution. Ten years down the road, they have the chance to ditch their old, grayscale e-paper for one with a full range of colors. There's bound to be a great switch the new tech. That's all, really, and it's not even unique to e-paper.
That said, yes, I can't wait to get my e-paper. The energy consumption is low, expected lifetime is long, readability (even in direct sunlight) is just like a sheet of traditional paper.
But wait
What's gonna happen to the coupon industry!?

Sorry to dig this post up again, but I found another of those rare listings on the internets that gives a look at e-newspapers, but it wasn't quite worth it's own thread. Lady and gentlemen, this is what the first generation of commercial e-newspapers look like
www.naa.org...
The article isn't dated explicitly, but from info taken within the body, it seems like it must be at least from 03
Also, here are a few more links on the De Tijd experiment, including one which offers a picture of their version.
First paper-less daily newspaper
The Belgian E-paper project

[edit on 28-3-2006 by TheGoodDoctorFunk]