A couple of years ago, Jack and I did a piece for G2 on the technology in the film Minority Report. My favourite was e-paper - a technology which, I wrote, was only just round the corner from entering the real world. In the film, Tom Cruise ran on to a crowded subway, fleeing his pursuers, only to see a newspaper front page change in front of his eyes to display his mugshot, and a headline to the effect that he was on the run. It was a good example of the possible power of the technology.
Well, now e-paper's really here - or, at least, it will be from next month. Sony, Phillips and e-paper have announced the first electronic paper display will go on sale in Japan shortly. It might only be black-and-white (unlike in the film) but, going by the PR blurb, the rest of the spec is very impressive indeed:
"The Electronic Paper Display is reflective and can be easily read in bright sunlight or dimly lit environments while being able to be seen at virtually any angle - just like paper. Its black and white ink-on-paper look, combined with a resolution in excess of most portable devices at approximately 170 pixels per inch (PPI), gives an appearance similar to that of the most widely read material on the planet - newspaper. Because the display uses power only when an image is changed, a user can read more than 10,000 pages before the four AAA Alkaline batteries need to be replaced."
If this price information is true, that's an astonishingly low price for a first generation technology, and one that should help make it a rapid hit - if it's anywhere near as good as it appears to be.
