E Ink exec sees e-newspapers going commercial in 2009

Yeah, quite a few rags out there have already diverted at least some of their efforts to the electronic press, but according to E Ink's Ryosuke Kuwata, the trend is set to explode in late 2009. Said VP, who is currently in charge of market development, admitted that some newspapers in Japan, America and Europe are all looking to make the move to e-paper in the not-too-distant future. He also stated that "verification tests" (trials, we presume) would be starting up "using several thousands of terminals by the end of 2008," and that the company would "gradually shift to a specific business in the second half of 2009." Reading the local headlines on e-paper, scooting to the market in a flying vessel and showing up to work by flipping on a hologram transmitter. Meatloaf always said two out of three wasn't bad.

[grull2 @ Jun 24th 2008 7:17PM]

This is the most quixotic thng I have heard in a long time.

[Harkonian @ Jun 25th 2008 3:14PM]

Not at all when you consider that the person making all these claims is the VP of...wait for it...market development. What better way to develop a market than to make grandiose claims in the hope that at least some will jump on the bandwagon, thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy?

[notYou @ Jun 24th 2008 7:28PM]

This doesn't solve the fundamental problem with today's (US) newspapers: liberal bias and crappy reporting. There's virtually nothing worth reading in print media any longer.

[Josh L @ Jun 24th 2008 7:41PM]

This being a programmable electronic device, you could conceptually download anything you like onto it. It needn't be an existing print paper at all.

[Haikibutsu @ Jun 24th 2008 8:15PM]

And here we have a Faux News viewing republican conservative.

*sigh*

[James @ Jun 24th 2008 9:09PM]

hey notme, ever think that there may be no bias, you just became old and crotchety?

[notYou @ Jun 24th 2008 10:45PM]

Hey James, maybe you need to check out the Pew 2004 and 2007 studies of the media where journalists' _categorized_themselves_ as 5 and 4 times as liberal as the general population (oh, and proportionately smaller in conservative views as well, but I digress...). Or, for example, did you miss Chris Matthews getting a "tingle up [his] leg" when Obama speaks? Hello, McFly, are you there?

Haikibutsu: Sorry but Faux News, like McCain and Bush: Republican does not a Conservative make. (Hint: If you think any of those are conservative, you might want to brush up on your ideologies).

"Welcome to the New America!" - the Late, Great USA.

[Richard Clarke @ Jun 24th 2008 11:54PM]

Who gives a crap about your politics, conservatives, and polls. It's a story about the evolution of news delivery.
As if your "report" of what is true is as unbiased as any generalized news media outlet critique you regurgitate.
Hey! notYou said it on an Engadget comment. What was I thinking that made any sense? Bless you.
Time to move on you paranoid, ditto head whiner.

[Jon Acheson @ Jun 25th 2008 10:12AM]

Actually, it might, by breaking up the local newspaper monopolies and lowering the cost of entry. Part of the reason that newspapers get to be so terrible is that they quickly drive out competition: you get one dominant regional paper, and you're done. From there, it's groupthink city.

With electronic distribution, there's no such thing as lock-in any more.

[Ghen @ Jun 25th 2008 1:20PM]

Unless they make each electronic newspaper proprietary to one company. It would be cost and time prohibitive to switch to the new startup, just like today.

[Dualboot @ Jun 24th 2008 7:35PM]

I can see the obvious cost savings compared to paper (after mass production of course), but I'm a bit hazy on the concept itself.

How is this supposed to work? I get my copy of the WSJ in the mail, I read the e-ink pages I want and then what? Is this supposed to be a throw-away contraption, or am I supposed to plug it in to get the next day's version?

[sinjinn @ Jun 24th 2008 9:41PM]

making it throwaway would defeat thd point. i think it just refreshes every day via your internet connevtion.

[Unknown @ Jun 24th 2008 7:40PM]

In this case it's one out of three, so maybe that's bad after all.

[Lowest Ranked @ Jun 24th 2008 7:51PM]

No, he's right; he just forgot the link: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/16/icons-foldable-2-seater-plane-unveiled-available-now/

[Michael Scrip @ Jun 24th 2008 7:51PM]

I'm ready for a device like an Amazon Kindle, where you can subscribe to your local paper as well as any magazine or journal. You buy one device, and all they send you is bits... not trees.

It just seems silly to use disposable paper to deliver a temporary message. Read the paper on Monday... throw it away. Read the paper on Tuesday... throw it away.

[Artie Lange @ Jun 24th 2008 8:06PM]

Isn't that already available? I think they call it the "Internet".

This is an invention whose time has long passed. Why would I carry around E-ink paper when I've got an iPhone/smart phone/laptop/UMPC/etc.? There may be other viable applications for this tech, but using it to read the newspaper or magazines is no longer one of them.

[bartoron @ Jun 24th 2008 8:10PM]

The only problem with reading off of the internet is that it's just not as practical. Reading something from a newspaper is a lot more comfortable, for whatever reason. Also, you can easily bring it around with you. The Kindle is a great idea, but until it can be used for reading newspapers, its full potential will never be reached.

[GadgetTamer @ Jun 24th 2008 7:53PM]

I feel old... i remember when the only news was on paper... then the computer... now E-Paper? At this rate i'm going to be 90 next year lol

[ddub @ Jun 24th 2008 8:00PM]

You mean before radio?.... wow...

[Nomi @ Jun 24th 2008 8:59PM]

and the television...

[GadgetTamer @ Jun 25th 2008 1:06AM]

You know what i mean. Back when computer first came out and people were predicting it would be 50years before we saw tech like this. Here we are what? 20 Years later? If you judge how old you are by the advncement of tech then most of us are pretty old...

[Ghen @ Jun 25th 2008 1:22PM]

2001 was supposed to have artificial intelligence (albiet homicidal ones) and manned deep space missions.

That make you feel any younger in technology years?

[Tyler @ Jun 24th 2008 7:57PM]

Ain't.

[grull27 @ Jun 24th 2008 8:03PM]

This is so quixotic.

[silverblackvoid @ Jun 24th 2008 8:04PM]

kewl

[nmantzoros @ Jun 24th 2008 8:09PM]

Soon that guy selling newspapers outside the train station will be the guy asking you for change outside the train station

[John @ Jun 24th 2008 8:14PM]

That's more or less to what someone who sells newspaper does now, isn't it?

[Haikibutsu @ Jun 24th 2008 8:17PM]

He could make a killing selling e-newspapers off the street.

Or, if people are too lazy at home, they can go to a former street vendor, and he can charge 25 to 50 cents for a newspaper refill.

[[e-mail] @ Jun 24th 2008 8:37PM]

Don't feel too sorry for guys selling newspapers - I own a company that sells over 600 new customers every week - some guys make over $2,500 per weekend.

[jollyllama @ Jun 24th 2008 8:16PM]

"..Said VP, who is currently in charge of market development..."

Whoa, a market development guy hyping his product's viability? That's unheard of and shocking.

[grull27 @ Jun 24th 2008 8:23PM]

.

[d00b @ Jun 24th 2008 8:34PM]

I think the best application for this is as a cheap foldable screen for smartphone/MID devices. Screen size is a major limitation on mobile devs. Restricting it to just e-newspapers is a deadend, given the downtrend of newspaper in general. A possible cause for doing so is screen update speed. If it takes more than a second to change to new content, then interactive use will have serious limitations.

[cuban, the paris hilton of tech @ Jun 24th 2008 8:36PM]

e-ink paper wont go anywhere until u can wipe your ass with it.

[Ghen @ Jun 25th 2008 1:23PM]

That made less sense because you used full words. Next time you aren't going to make sense at least have the decency to type in l33t sp34k.

[Richard Lai @ Jun 24th 2008 8:37PM]

I'd rather carry one of these instead of seeing loads of used free newspaper lying around in the trains (London Underground, specifically).

But a colour version is still in the oven.

[John @ Jun 24th 2008 10:11PM]

Stupidest.Invention.Ever

What's next - e-toilet paper?

[wilcoholic @ Jun 25th 2008 2:40AM]

E.ink isnt the stupidest invention ever. I'd even say it is one of the best invention known to mankind. Almost as good as the "internet".

[Limezor @ Jun 25th 2008 2:46AM]

Damn you guys are so uptight. Also, I already read up Engadget on my iPod Touch every morning so this isn't exactly UB3R AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!

[roflcopter @ Jun 25th 2008 8:09AM]

Wouldnt this be great if you could get it preloaded with like a months news??? /sarcasm

But seriously, its not like anything ever changes...

[erislover @ Jun 25th 2008 9:39AM]

...says a reader of a news site.

[thedesolate1 @ Jun 25th 2008 11:25AM]

Thank the Heavens For Adobe PDF and smart Phones. As revolutionary as this is I prefer my playboy mags in a more obscure "harder for the person behind me to watch" format.

[Ian @ Jun 25th 2008 1:03PM]

artie

i can agree with you up to a point, that the internet makes it easy to find this stuff. Yet unlike the internet i like how the stories are laid out in a newspaper and sense this "should" just be a copy of the newspaper in electronic form it should be a really easy transition to it. plus i like reading the paper when i eat breakfast and i dont want to spill on my computer but if the e-paper is only like 20 bucks (or what ever it will be) then im less likely to care if i mess it up.

[Echo1 @ Jun 25th 2008 3:30PM]

So my questions

How much will it cost per sheet
How many will be needed per person (to emulate the feel of a newspaper)
Memory size of the sheets
Possibility of DRM (Witch I hate) being enabled on the sheets