Playground Blues

Jeff Croft http://www.jeffcroft.com/

The thing looks that good, huh? Because really, the pics never impressed me that much. I guess the screen is a “needs to be seen to be believed” kind-of-thing?

I definitely think you’re right about these sorts of devices eventually replacing print — but I’m not sure how soon it will happen. I really think the killer features that are key to it (besides great screens, which it sounds like we already have) are super-lightweight and folding. Who knows when we’ll be able to fold an LCD, but that would be killer.

Sam Sullivan

Not sure I agree that this (or any reader) could replace print. Hold the reader (maxed out at 80 books) in your right hand, and a book in your left. Drop them both. Now tell me which you’d rather have.

ePaper won’t replace paper-paper until the hardware that drives it reaches nano-level (foldable/rollable LCDs, for example). Until then, if it can break when dropped, it won’t replace traditional print.

RIP print. Long live Print.

Jeff Croft http://www.jeffcroft.com/

If the device is small enough, thin enough, durable enough, and light enough to carry easily or fit into a bag without folding and without risking damage, then folding might not be necessary. I haven’t seen the reader in person, but the photos don’t make it look that small.

E-paper will replace print someday. I don’t think that day is real soon, but the beginnings of it are definitely here, so I’m all for the mentality that we ought to get used it to, embrace it, and design for it.

Sam Sullivan

This conversation definately encapsulates the crossroads Im at right now. I’ve been a unix administrator / web design ‘guy’ in higher-ed for about 6 years now. At the same time, I am finishing up my BFA in Graphic Design. My work experience indicates I should persue web/UI design, but my passion is for print design. I adore working with ink and paper both as a designer and end-user.

I do realize that paper is in danger of losing out to the ipod of the book world (whenever that arrives). I mean print newspapers are all but done. However I feel strongly that the experience of handling a novel in print form (even a pocket paperback) holds far more value in the book-reading experience than we may realize. I’d anticipate (since I have no first-hand experience) too much of a disconnect between the reader and the content when using a device like the Sony Reader.

The best way I can explain it is how I see the ipod. People don’t listen to music anymore, they listen to their ipod. The experience is no longer between the listener and the sound, but between the listener and the technology. That’s how I see this unfolding (no pun intended)…we wouldn’t be reading a book, we’d be reading a reader.

As a tech guy, however, imagining a day when I can read a newspaper and interact with it (and other readers) on a transparent polymer that I can scroll up and put into my bag is just so tantalizing.

Tony Goff

Likewise print will never die, I’ve seen people make this comment before (perhaps with the Palm) and it never happens and will never happen for the simple reason that I don’t want to be stuck on a long flight with a dead battery and no way of reading my favourite book…

Jon Buda http://www.inkandcoffee.com/

I think the real question here is, will I be able to safely read my fancy new e-paper in the bathroom for extended periods? There is something perfectly fine with reading the newspaper, or a magazine, or a book while doing your business, but I would never bring my laptop, a PDA, or for that matter even my cellphone, into the bathroom. For whatever reason it just seems unacceptable.

Jeff Croft http://www.jeffcroft.com/

will never happen for the simple reason that I don’t want to be stuck on a long flight with a dead battery and no way of reading my favourite book…

I think comments like this are very, vert short-sighted. I always hear people say, “It’ll never happen because:”

• Paper is lighter
• Paper doesn’t require batteries
• Paper can be folded
• Paper is disposable
• Paper is cheap

And so on. But why the assumption that electronic media will never be light, self-powered, foldable, disposable, and inexpensive?

Electronics get small, lighter, cheaper, faster, and become more of a commodity every year. Are you sure you wanna say it will never happen?

You’re just asking to be proven wrong, in my opinion.

but I would never bring my laptop, a PDA, or for that matter even my cellphone, into the bathroom. For whatever reason it just seems unacceptable.

I think you might be in the minority. I think about every semi-geek I know takes his lappy to the crapper. And again, the only reason it seem unacceptable to you is that your electronics cost you a good bit. What if they hadn’t? What if they were as disposable as the paper you use to wipe with?

Someday.

Sam Sullivan

Jeff, the list you provided (lighter, self-powered, foldable, disposable and inexpensive) seems to be, at least within the confines of this small discussion, properties the majority feels important in whatever media “replaces” paper books, newspapers and magazines. The Sony reader fails to meet a single one of those criteria (although at 9.5 ozs, it certainly beats out my Sunday NYTimes).

I think calling the product the print killer is as presumptuous as dismissing it is short-sighted.

(I’m not trying to pound you here, Nathan and Jeff…hope it isn’t coming across that way.)

Scott Hughes

I don’t think the device will be the driving factor in outdating printed material, but rather the availability of digital formats.

The iPod was in a different position when it was first released because most existing music could be easily transferred to it. Compare “thousands of titles” to the countless number of books available; converting a book into a digital format is also somewhat more laborious than ripping a CD, to say the least.

But why should books even be available in a digital format? This would be a huge change to the business model of publishing companies. DRM for PDFs? The problem of piracy doesn’t exist with books, and book sales can do ridiculously well in their physical form, so I can’t imagine why publishers would agree to licence digital sales.

I’d love to kill print. Among many other reasons is the benefit to the environment, but alas I just don’t see it happening in my lifetime.

Calum Heriot

Someday maybe. But i doubt it will kill print in my lifetime. It doesnt matter how much it can store, it doesnt matter how easy it is too redraw. It would fail to feel like paper. It’s the same reason i still prefer drawing in a sketchbook rather than using my wacom.

Could you grab two files by flicking through it and just stick them side-by-side on your desk? Sometimes i like to cover my entire desk with papers, just so i can view them all at the same time.

I think until paper is replaced by some form of E-Ink device that has the same properties of paper, including price, print will live on.

Jeff Croft http://www.jeffcroft.com/

“It would fail to feel like paper.”

Again, this seems so presumptuous and short-sighted. Why do you think it wouldn’t feel like paper? People said digital photos would never look like “real” photos, too. To assume it’s impossible that a digital device that feels like paper will ever be created is to assume innovation will cease. But what evidence do you have that suggests innovation will even slow-down, let alone cease?

Someday, a digital device will feel like paper. I think it will be in your lifetime (unless you’re already in your 80s, or something). Mark my words.

“Sketchbooks can NEVER be replaced.”

Why not? If we had digital tablet screen that felt and acted like paper and digital pens that felt and acts like pencils (or your tool of choice), why wouldn’t it be capable of replacing paper.

Someday, all of this will happen. Never say never. It’s just asking to look stupid someday. :)

Kristofer Baxter

They used to say lighttables would never be replaced either.

When was the last time you saw someone doing layout with an exacto knife and paste?

Michael Hoskins

What any of these comments fail to address is that some people actually like the physical properties of a book.

I agree that it would be nice to hold thousands of books (or any other future-looking arbitrary number) on a reader, and would use the technology myself for actual reading.

What devices like this and any other digital form cannot replace, though, is the sentimental feel of books. The feeling of walking into a room with shelves of books and smelling old paper; seeing ancient leatherbound texts, and respecting the very nature of a book.

For periodicals and books which are basically throwaway (namely, paperbacks), devices like this are ideal and lend themselves well to evolving the medium. I suppose in that respect, it would be the print killer. But I am a big fan of books, and don’t see the medium disappearing even in the more distant future.

Michael Hoskins

The same could be said for vinyl, but audio CDs and audio DVDs have replaced them as superior reproduction media, which is not exactly the same thing. True, people still have a sentimental attachment to vinyl, but in my mind it’s not the same argument.

The audio equivalent would be storing a compact disc library as a series of lossless files on a personal media device. Which, again, brings up the loss of the physical properties, such as liner notes, disc sleeve design, and miscellaneous disc art. Necessary? Certainly not. Thinking like “old people?” Possibly.

I have hundreds of CDs, but use digital audio out of convenience. As I said before, I would use an equivalent e-reader device were it as accessible, but still feel the sentimental attachment to physical books.

Don’t get me wrong; I am as excited as you to see the dawn of these devices, I just disagree that it’s the end of print.

Jeff Croft http://www.jeffcroft.com/

Michael, I wouldn’t disagree with you at all, but I do wonder if that sentimental attachment will last to future generations.

I really don’t think my 11-yeard old daughter (who has only owned a few CDs but is permanently connected to iTunes and her iPod) is going to feel a lot of nostalgia for linear notes.

Sam Sullivan

An interesting article I came across this morning:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6227575.stm

“The firm is working on “control circuits” that sit behind screens on electronic displays. In particular, it is working on the electronic circuitry for “electronic paper” displays.

These flexible devices can store the text of thousands of books or newspapers and could one day replace paper.

Industry experts forecast the market for plastic electronics could be worth $30billion by 2015.

When it is built in 2008, the new factory could produce one million control circuits in a market that is tipped to expand to 41.6 million units in 2010.”

Sam Sullivan

Sorry, not trying to flood your comments Nathan, but here are some product demo videos (clearly prototypes) of PlasticLogics electronic paper:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22plastic+lo…

T.G. http://www.esenciadesign.com

Small electronic readers are only interesting/handy when they are used for rapidly changing media projections. (Like e-magazines, e-papers and mp3 audio) Our eyes simply won’t be able to long look at such small text screens. Like all other traditional media types, print will survive too. PDA readers for now are just another media channel for communication. Would you seriously read a 200+ paged book on such a small device?? I wouldn’t… Cheers, T.G, Creative Director.