Monday, November 30, 2009

A Future Beyond the Printed Page


The Financial Times discusses books in the digital age.

From the piece...

Ten years from now, electronic paper will be indistinguishable from the magazine you are holding. And not only will it be as flexible and lightweight as the printed page, with the same colours and clarity, it will also be dynamic, updating itself via a wireless internet connection and perhaps even showing video.

That is the boldest prediction from today’s most ardent proponents of e-paper. And the hype around electronic reading devices is at fever pitch. Amazon’s Kindle is now on sale outside North America for the first time, and a flood of rivals is heading for the market from retailers such as Barnes & Noble, computer makers such as Asus and new companies including Plastic Logic (with which the FT has a content partnership).

But even today’s e-readers are going to look out of date pretty soon. Next year will see the first devices with flexible displays. Already, e-readers with colour screens are becoming available, and advances in technology will soon create a glossier look and feel closer to a printed magazine. Also next year, Apple is expected to launch a touch-screen “tablet” that could create a whole new category between laptops and mobiles.

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