The future of tech in just one word: plastics

Books that resemble TVs
E-paper is also gradually moving civilization toward a reality of animated surfaces. Amazon’s Kindle, an electronic book reader, is perhaps the best-known example of this technology. The key advance: It only takes energy to “turn the page” – once the text is set, it stops consuming power. There are about 10 other
e-readers on the market, and two or three more about to be released, says Sriram Peruvemba, vice president of marketing for E-Ink in Cambridge, Mass., an electronic paper display company.

Although most current e-readers are rigid devices, they’re moving to flexible surfaces, says Mr. Peruvemba.

Last May, Polymer Vision released the Readius, “the first pocket eReader,” which has a foldable screen and the ability to check e-mail. Both Epson and LG Display have large page-size e-paper prototypes with color. (Black and white is the current standard.)

The goal, says Peruvemba, is to put e-ink on every “smart surface” and get away from the constraints of “dead paper.” One day, subscribers will have one device that updates daily with the most recent edition of their chosen news outlets, Peruvemba imagines.

In that vein, Esquire’s October issue will have an e-paper cover that blinks to commemorate its 75th anniversary.

“I’ve been looking for ways to more fully use the potential of the print medium,” says David Granger, Esquire’s editor-in-chief, in an e-mail message. “The print medium is so compelling that I and we should all be able to do more with it.”

The technology may also lead to a more tree-friendly world. By Peruvemba’s estimate, 95 million trees are cut yearly for books. In the US, 12 billion magazines are printed yearly – and 70 percent of newsstand copies are never sold. Delivering magazines electronically could save the 35 million trees that go into magazines yearly, according to Co-op America, an environmentally minded non-profit. E-paper can offer forests a reprieve.

Solar panels in clothing?
But one of plastic electronics’ truly revolutionary aspects may be somewhat less sexy: to hasten the advent of affordable solar panels. Right now, it takes perhaps 10 years to make back in savings what silicon-based solar panels cost to install, says Alan Heeger, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a 2000 Nobel Laureate in chemistry.

“The capital cost of putting in silicon solar cells is just too high,” says Dr. Heeger, who helped start Konarka, a company developing organic solar panels. “We need a technology that will bring that cost down.”

Besides being potentially much cheaper to make, plastic panels can bend, allowing them to be embedded in roof tiles and sewn into bags or clothing. One day you may recharge your cellphone from your handbag’s built-in, plastic solar panel, he says.

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