News flash (literally) with e-ink
October’s issue of Esquire uses technology developed by E-Ink Corp. on its cover. You’ve probably heard about it — back in July, Wired detailed how e-ink works. The 10-square-inch message on the cover flashes in three parts: “The 21st Century” … “Begins” … “Now.” Here’s what it looks like:
The inside cover has an e-ink ad for Ford Flex, the sponsor for the pricey technology. (E-Ink Corp. also developed the screen of Amazon’s Kindle. Unlike the Kindle, the magazine cover does not link to a wireless network and cannot be updated.)
The October Esquire should be on newsstands now, although not all issues have the e-ink cover. The 100,000 e-ink copies also sell higher: $5.99 instead of $3.99.
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OK, that’s cool. The form of “print” newspapers 10 years from now? 5?
Wow! I didn’t realize that could be embedded in a cover so easily. Thanks for sharing!
I bought a copy of the magazine over the weekend. It didn’t jump off the newsstand as much as I’d hoped — the flashing text is cool, but not especially bold. And I’m curious to see how long the batteries will last.
During the ONA conference, e-ink was discussed at the “10 emerging technologies” sessions. I was surprised that very few journalists had heard of e-ink (many had heard of Kindle), and plan to take the magazine to work this week to see what others think.