Well not quite but it’s looking to shake things up a bit. Recently, Esquire Magazine announced that it would be doing something different to celebrate its 75th year. This October when the celebratory issue hits newsstands it will be the first magazine in history to have a moving digital image on the cover. While this might appear gimmicky it does offer up a number of interesting possibilities in the future.
Many people have already long since given up on magazines; they are expensive, filled with ads, and you can find more recent information online. That said there is still something that remains pleasant about the tactile nature of reading a magazine from the comfort of your living room couch. E-paper is still in its infancy but if fully realized could fill the comfort role while removing much of the trouble of the physically printed media.
E-paper, like what will be used on the cover of Esquire later this year is nearly as thin as thick stock paper, light, and has enough give that you can bend it without it breaking. All this is nice but the benefit of the technology comes from storage and updateability. A whole magazine has the capability to be placed in single sheet of e-paper. The benefit of this is that you will no longer have the environmental concerns of magazine dumps. Additionally once you have the one e-paper magazine set up it will be possible to order next month’s issue right to the copy you already have, delivered wirelessly through the internet. All of this on a large easy to read screen that can be rolled up and brought with you anywhere.
Right now the technology isn’t perfect. The magazine cover that will be shipping in October has a very limited power supply of only 90 days. Other companies, such as amazon.com have recently come out with similar technologies such as Kindle that are more reliable but have added heft. Kindle is a “book” that makes use of e-paper technology to store up to 200 novels in a package roughly the size and thickness of a soft cover novel.
Anyway you look at it though it will be interesting to see if e-paper can take hold in the market. If the shortcomings can be rectified the future of paper will be bright indeed.
- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department
