Esquire's E Ink-infused magazine cover shown on video
By Darren Murph 
posted September 8th 2008 2:06AM
posted September 8th 2008 2:06AM
posted September 8th 2008 2:06AM
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Question: Why the hell doesn't everyone else do this, like, all the time? Yes, it's rhetorical.
Because eink is expensive as shit still? And no its not rhetorical when there is a legit answer to the question :-P
In 20 years time, people will look back at our crude animated magazine covers and laugh.
j_g_puff: 20 years? I surprised anyone reads magazines today.
Maybe if they had a magazine version of Adblock...
@ j_g_puff I'm laughing at this right now!
its like those animated photos and news papers in harry potter
now imagine this, but a porno mag
Wow! Now imagine this propped up 90 degrees, with a mouse attached! OMG! The future.. is... now! the future is now! the... future is now... is now! Now is the future! The future is... now!
Heck, why not make every page an E-ink page? Is that wasteful? Maybe why not make just one page electronic, with a 'button' you can push to view the next page? So the magazine uses less materials to create? Somebody should create this ''tablet' thing and explore the possibilities of this fantastic new creation.
Randy.....Pandy. :)
This I have to say is pretty cool. Just curious is it just a video screen or is the texture that of paper? sorry if thats a dumb question I'm just curious because E-ink gives the impression that its some sort of special ink on normal paper.
EInk can't refresh fast enough to produce motion, so in that sense it can't be considered a video display. It is a type of "electronic display" though...
Basically the technology employees a bunch of tiny clear, fluid filled capsules. Floating within these capsules are positively charged white "ink" and negatively charged black "ink". Above and below each capsule is an electrode. When an appropriate charged is applied to each of these, one of the inks is pulled to the top, while the other is forced to the bottom. Afterward the ink stays in place until another charge is applied.
Not a dumb question it's a basically a matrix of little cells. Each cell contains free floating back and white spheres with opposite charges. The surface is charged (positive or negative) to pull up the appropriate color for each cell. This technology is mainly exploited in ebook readers. (Google Cybook Gen 3 for images and how it works) The main advantage is there is no back light and newer eink screens pass lcd monitors in clarity.
Traditional LCD use a backlight to illuminate the LCDs from Behind this method works by reflecting light, similar to the way paper works. This allows you to read with almost no glare and in direct sunlight.
Unfortunately there's only black and white screens. There are some color versions but they use a 4 way filter for red, green, blue and leave the black/white cell open. Imagine a square divided into for squares. Each one is covered with a color. The problem with this method is your resolution is cut to a quarter of the original.
WANT
A Playboy with flashing lights would hold my attention for even longer
Not all issues have e-ink display though, but approximate 1/6 of them. Be careful when you order.
Anyone know exactly when this hits news stands?
It the 21st Century Begins Now, where do I line up to collect my rocket pack?
Fuck that where the hell is that flying car the Jetsons promised me?
Wow, I wish this was more widespread.
Oh goodness no.
Wow. I had previously heard about this, but the end-result is actually more impressive than I had imagined.
Holy crap, where's a 'newstand' in Houston that sells this? I have a feeling that it would be a good idea to save this item and keep it in mint condition for like 30+ years and resell it for a high price!
Battery runs out.
You'd have one with nothing there instead.
Yeah but I'm sure a battery can be replaced easily...
I take it you own a iphone......?
yes, but it's in it's original box at the top of his closet. He's planning to keep it in mint condition for 30 years, sell it and retire.
Not trying to sound like a hippie or anything but as an owner of a Sony e-ink reader, I know it is not something any more environmentally friendly to throw away than a cell phone. So just out of curiosity, did they do something different to this display to make it ok to just toss it in the trash one day when I don't care to keep it anymore?
Note: Includes 6 button cell batteries and a PCB.
So no, unless you don't care about dumping electronics down the garbage.
worse yet, this magazine's cover is not recyclable
I think that the contents of the magazine is the biggest waste hazard...
get back in your tree you smelly hippy.
good point. I hope for a world where we get all our information (magazines, books, and so on) on a device like the Amazon Kindle. Ones which aren't one time use objects, such as this magazine. Not to mention I'm personally over the whole collection phase of my and man kinds life.
Man you couldn't be sounding LESS like a hippie even if you tried. that was the most non hippie phrase ever. More like a Yuppie with his Sony e-ink reader...
I want my Mattle hoverboard!
Here's an answer you didn't ask for: Because it's only by the grace of God that I can make it through the line at the super market without gobbling up all the Bubbletape and buying twelve nifty flashlight keychains. PLEASE don't tempt me with flashing magazines.
*ahem* In response to Jon Lam
excuse me
So? A whole lotta nothing special.
think they have these at walmart??? Just saying that's as far as I'm willing to go.
i actually just went and checked, they didn't even have esquire... so yea... there's that.
This is not new. At all. This technology has been around for years, they're called el-led sheets and they've been used in some bus stops adverts (intel dual core for one)bars,shopping malls,etc. I was expecting something new when I read the header....
This is not an EL-LED. EInk is a very different technology, that isn't related to LEDs in any way.
Is anyone else completely blown away? This is awesome!
Seems a bit odd that a throw-away magazine has a color one and the expensive full products are grey/black only.
Wwat - the display is not color, just the printing behind it.
I picked up all they had at the local B&N (4 of them). The folks at the checkout (in the cafe) all came around to look when I pointed out what the cover had on it.
D.
It's not color. They printed the color images on top of B&W e-ink, so it effectively brightens and darkens the color images.
"THREE HOURS LATER ON THE WEST COAST"
Hahahaha.
Yeah, I remember thinking the tag was awesome too when it first "came out".
Looks like in the near future, unless someone creates Adblock for print media, I'll need to go over all the ads with a sharpie before I can concentrate enough to enjoy an article.
That was supposed to read "the BLINK tag", which is apparently so evil Engadget won't even let me post it.
I went to a couple of 24 hour grocery stores here and they only have the September issue on display . I didnt feel like asking a clerk if they have the new one in the back somewhere.
...thanks for the update?