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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Well this certainly beats the small moving images on plastic cards that we used to get in our cereal 20 years ago.
So this is the updated lenticular printing for the 21st century ?
Gosh I miss those tacky gifts with my morning cornflakes ><
will they be doing this monthly,or is this just a one-off that we wont see until next year?
im really hoping for the former,so i can get one when i head to america in november.
Seems like (at this point) It's simply a more impressive version of the holograph. Looks like it's just refreshing a few images over and over again. none the less I like seeing it about (for the privileged) as long as we don't start tossing these things away like we do newspapers today.
All of this...
for a blink animation...
Animated gifs are back !
... print media fighting for it's life. it's gimmicky.
... ad agency fighting to be relevant. it's (as someone said before) a new version holograph.
Honestly, I think it may have been an error that I was able to get one at all. The Esquire website says there's still one day until the magazine is released. So maybe it was just a fluke that the Borders I visited had one out two days early.
And the cover is slightly thick, due to all the circuits and batteries in there. But when you take it apart a little bit and look, the E Ink displays themselves are unbelievably thin, all of the thickness comes from the circuit board and batteries.
There's a short blurb in the magazine about the cover, detailing how it was produced, etc. It gives the short tip of storing the magazine in the refrigerator or freezer to extend the lifespan, because apparently the E Ink screens draw a whole lot more power at higher temperatures. :-)
The idea of flashing Ads in the magazine is disturbing.
Does anyone else get the feeling this is distinctly underwhelming? What about all those promises that e-Paper would revolutionise the way we read printed media - where's the ability to erase and re-program the image to whatever you want, or is this just basically a powered, flexible LCD display with no significant differences from the many already in existence? And what about the colours - there appears to be none. Just a fixed, flashing grey-and-white background behind the printed colour picture. So what.
They'll have to do a lot better than this before they excite the market...
Now, regardless of the technology, keep in mind this product is *free* (or, *included with the price of the magazine*). It's not like you're buying a Kindle.
Does anyone know of a way to find out where the heck they're selling these things, i'd love to get one.
I'll take a go at hacking that.
Is that even e-ink? It's just flashing on and off, not changing. Show me the contents of the magazine scrolling by and I'll be a little more impressed....
It's like a game-and-watch LCD - it's a real LCD but the LCD is segmented into pre-defined graphics instead of a dot-matrix.
99,997 copies left... just picked up two :D
I found a copy!!!
I called around to the various Borders' stores in my area and found one after the 3rd try.
They're holding it for me. I had the store rep verify that it said "The World's First E-ink Cover" in the right corner.
I live about 30 minutes northwest of Detroit.
Will you be my friend?
I can't wait for the day when I'm flipping through a magazine and hear those fantastic words, "You've been selected for a free iPod..."
Moving, talking magazine ads, the only things worse than banner ads.
Now we just need that map from Babylon A.D. .......................................
Just got myself a copy; probably will never read the magazine though.
The last gasp of a dying medium.
In NYC, Borders on Park Ave. and 57th St. is bought out (someone bought the entire stack off the shelf). Barnes & Noble at 54th and 3rd has a bunch. The ones on the shelf are pretty banged up, but they have a separate display off to the side with some crisp ones.
In NYC, Borders on Park Ave. and 57th St. is bought out (someone bought the entire stack off the shelf). Barnes & Noble at 54th and 3rd has a bunch. The ones on the shelf are pretty banged up, but they have a separate display off to the side with some crisp ones.
Wow, a blink tag I can read on the crapper. We have certainly arrived.
21 centuries to perfect... the blink tag.
I wrote a complete teardown on the E-Ink gear in this Esquire issue at http://kelley.ca/wordpress/2008/09/08/esquire-75th-anniversary-e-ink-teardown/
Let me know what you think!
Kind of like them greeting cards you open and they play obnoxious music.
Step in a Hallmark store sometime. You'll know what I mean.
Interesting article. It would have been better reporting to at least explain how this technology is done. And it should have included the cost of the magazine and where to find it. Pretty basic reporting 101. Oh well.
I don't understand all the excitement. Seems to me that they took a usefull technology and made it useless. They use the e-ink as a glorified backlight for a couple of color transparencies. They print just a few words. The ad on the inside cover is a color transparency of a car. You might as well had a couple of flashing leds. I am unimpressed. this is no Kindle or Sony eReader. Would have been interesting if it actually displayed some content.