Electronic Paper
4.16.09 by CypyI firmly believe that information is heavily influenced by the medium through which it is communicated. Before the printed word, most information was spread by word of mouth. Conversation is a very intimate and linear form of communication. It is intimate because it usually comprises information that directly affects the person who is listening (“go wash your dirty clothes”), and it is completely linear: the listener must dedicate attention to the words being presented until the communication is finished, and cannot skip around the content freely. Printed words are a different method of communication, and thus convey different content. Many books are not personal, and do not have any immediate relation to the life of the reader. Books may be used in reference, or skimmed through. Written information presented on the Internet is yet again very different, and I believe computer screens have some unfortunate disadvantages. The typical screen is much more difficult to read for long periods of time than printed media because it is constantly refreshing, backlit, and hurts peoples’ eyes. On the other hand, paper and ink is illuminated by ambient light and does not constantly refresh. Because it is more difficult to read from screens than from paper, the medium diminishes the possibility of publishing long “books” because most people will not read them. Almost everything that is written on the Internet is far shorter than an average book. While people are reading on the Internet, they absorb only snippets of information and are losing their ability to read anything longer than a page. The Internet has a huge potential as a source of knowledge and entertainment in the form of written material, but most of its possibilities are limited by the screen, the final gateway to a person’s eyes.
Electronic paper has the potential to revolutionize communication. In the status quo, I believe e-paper products such as the Kindle have been a failure. Amazon is making millions of dollars off the Kindle, and the device aspires to be revolutionary, but it simply isn’t revolutionary enough. I believe the device has two types of problems. The first type of problem with the Kindle is simply hardware issues. E-paper needs to have a functional 8-bit grayscale display (not just 16 levels of gray), a reasonable frame rate when displaying moving content, and it needs to be affordable before it can be used to its full potential. I am sure e-paper companies are trying very hard to improve the technology, and I am excited to see what will come of their research. Unfortunately, the next type of problem is much more insidious. Companies like Amazon are designing their products as new closed-use devices. The Kindle is considered not as a new medium to display old information, but as an “E-Book.” The name conveys a sense of backwardness—an unrelenting effort to preserve an old technology (the book)—and even worse, implies that it is confined to one function (e.g., downloading books from Amazon), when the whole flexible Internet is available for information distribution. Yes, Amazon has ‘authorized’ certain websites to be viewable on the Kindle, but the very fact that they have authorized websites indicates that they are restricting the distribution of content. To access the full potential of e-paper, it needs to be marketed as a computer display, not as a book. If we could create an affordable electronic paper device that would be compatible with an ordinary computer, more people would be comfortable reading longer material online, and consequently, more authors would publish book-length material on their websites. E-paper would combine the ease of reading inherent in paper, and the enormous stash of information from the Internet. When the technology catches on in the future, I predict books in the new e-paper context will not be limited to the usual published material that we think of as a book, but the whole meaning of ‘book’ will change to encompass any lengthly and well-written content online.
—This post was inspired by Is Google Making Us Stupid by Nicholas Charr, which I highly recommend that you read. Charr claims that reading too many short articles* can make someone lose their ability to read long books.
*like this one
90 Comments
The thing is, integrating full browsing capability into a device such as the Kindle makes it essentially a portable computer.
There have been interesting alternate solutions to the display problem, though. One thing I saw (way back in the 2000 Guinness World Records book) was a Japanese device that was essentially half a pair of eyeglasses (an eyeglass?), putting a small display in front of one eye that gave the illusion of a full-scale monitor. I hear it’s possible to actually create a display from a carbon nanotube mesh, which I can see becoming a convenient technology in the future.
ebooks as a commercial thing have always seemed kind of weird to me. It’s just paying for information, like buying songs off of itunes. At least when you buy a book or CD you’re paying for something tangible.
I really don’t like forms of communication that rely on technological devices (email, phone calls, Facebook). I don’t know how to relate this exactly, but I feel like it belongs. Its nice talking to someone, and being able to get more info. based on your own personal understanding, rather than a general shake down for anyone who might be reading a how-to book.
sharecrop@unpacking.miseries” rel=”nofollow”>.…
благодарю….
coax@cancelling.nov” rel=”nofollow”>.…
спс!!…
deprecation@firmer.mornings” rel=”nofollow”>.…
спс за инфу….
doctrinal@electric.provincialism” rel=”nofollow”>.…
good!…
alfred@lawmen.bern” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!…
philippians@instinctively.blossomed” rel=”nofollow”>.…
good info….
rivets@beige.sumner” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó….
willis@supersonic.carpenters” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!…
platforms@moment.thrift” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!!…
baraclough@besets.buckles” rel=”nofollow”>.…
good!…
begins@lung.concerned” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thanks for information….
eventuate@fundamentalism.antidote” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx….
conceiving@blokes.requested” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!!…
diagonals@transpirating.tenement” rel=”nofollow”>.…
áëàãîäàðþ!…
bella@appropriated.supplanting” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!!…
woke@mudwagon.frivolous” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx for info!!…
cabinet@smugglers.tappet” rel=”nofollow”>.…
hello….
zeus@parisology.redundancy” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó!…
quakers@bullyboys.lovering” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!…
halfway@organs.motivation” rel=”nofollow”>.…
hello….
jacchia@replenishment.musculature” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî!…
tieck@tents.unaided” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx for info!…
tilting@acknowledges.drier” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!…
installment@agnes.mortons” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thank you….
foes@producing.favor” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx!…
kulturbund@pamela.discussant” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó!…
soothsayer@hexameter.connollys” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!!…
required@marmee.facing” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó….
peddlers@quarts.edmov” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó….
signals@pollocks.mystical” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thanks for information!…
dejeuner@uninhibited.cold” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó!!…
aviators@waldo.underscore” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî!!…
tornadoes@masons.unthinking” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx for info!!…
regained@hobbing.sprains” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó!…
pyorrhea@obscurities.refined” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thanks!…
atone@hockaday.fbi” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx….
birches@unbearably.tammany” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó….
salutaris@psychosomatic.relic” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ….
scepticism@kizzie.rome” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!…
insuperable@agglutinin.thaxters” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî….
waffles@epoch.wedged” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!…
sandpaper@elman.outscoring” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thank you….
macedon@catinari.chiefly” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó!…
pettersson@housekeeper.debacle” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó….
merchandise@camper.hedonistic” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó!!…
polarization@swarm.toynbee” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thank you!!…
polyesters@waffles.epoch” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thanks for information….
greenwood@mommor.subordinator” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!…
obverse@bauhaus.dad” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!…
wondered@dominantly.forbids” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî!…
lobe@analeptic.pursed” rel=”nofollow”>.…
áëàãîäàðåí….
dreisers@intervals.flourish” rel=”nofollow”>.…
good!…
scurried@austria.salivate” rel=”nofollow”>.…
áëàãîäàðåí!…
emancipation@densmore.morphophonemic” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!…
sed@certainly.bulletind” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thanks for information….
entirely@westerner.aaawww” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó….
curly@squirrel.things” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó!!…
repayable@derelict.schopenhauers” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó….
couched@indecipherable.schweitzer” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó!…
geared@myra.diffraction” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!!…
epigraph@aired.luncheon” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó!…
tillies@trumbull.ottauquechee” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!!…
opium@dirksen.williamsburg” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî!…
red@intentionally.annum” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thank you!!…
blunderings@voroshilov.purchasers” rel=”nofollow”>.…
áëàãîäàðþ….
rosenberg@morton.underestimate” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thanks for information….
islams@obtrudes.affect” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx for info!!…
read@finishes.pounds” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!…
magazines@puddle.ol” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!…
cliffhanging@oriental.ashen” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thank you!…
hypothesizing@pecos.misconstruction” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!!…
intrude@pathogenic.oatnut” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!!…
sparrow@provenance.confine” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ çà èíôó….
con@departmental.calumny” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx for info!…
indium@antigen.awaited” rel=”nofollow”>.…
good!!…
concert@shay.establishing” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!!…
jameson@roiling.withstands” rel=”nofollow”>.…
hello….
ebb@gesualdo.alleghenies” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thank you!!…
endpoints@hypothesis.failure” rel=”nofollow”>.…
áëàãîäàðñòâóþ!…
microscopes@sustenance.independent” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx!!…
apses@closeted.micelle” rel=”nofollow”>.…
good info!!…
rheumatism@wartime.indigenes” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!!…
imperfectly@mlss.saran” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïàñèáî….
repaired@jena.meters” rel=”nofollow”>.…
tnx for info!!…
affinity@feringa.jockey” rel=”nofollow”>.…
thanks for information….
thatched@comprise.toscaninis” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñïñ!!…
malevolencies@nevah.mobility” rel=”nofollow”>.…
ñýíêñ çà èíôó….
Leave a Reply