[FYI] An example of an emerging electronic "book" technology.

[Terry Kuny]

Hello gentle subscribers,

A recent thread on Web4Lib about electronic libraries
and paperless offices brought up a couple of questions 
regarding future technologies for electronic books.

A recent article in the IBM Systems Journal describes 
a project at MIT which is working on "e-ink" and 
other technologies that "reinvent" the display of 
electronic text. The article provides an intriguing 
look at a very cool future technology.

This development is, to my mind, still some distance 
from a marketable and affordable product that will 
match the current interface advantages and cost 
efficiencies of paper. But the article is also notable 
for its clear, short articulation of the advantages the
book format has and a recognition that the objective
is to enhance this display technology, not necessarily
replace it. A very interesting article.

For further information, see:

J. Jacobson, C. Turner, J. Albert, and P. Tsao, 
"The last book," IBM Systems Journal, Vol 36, No. 3 1997. 

"In this paper we describe our efforts at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology Media Laboratory toward realizing 
an electronic book comprised of hundreds of electronically 
addressable display pages printed on real paper substrates. 
Such pages may be typeset in situ, thus giving such a book
the capability to be any book. We outline the technology we 
are developing to bring this about and describe a number 
of applications that such a device enables."

The article is available online at:

  http://www.almaden.ibm.com/journal/sj/363/jacobson.html

Enjoy.

-terry


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Mr. Terry Kuny                  Home Office: 819-776-6602   
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