From owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Jul 27 12:27:42 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 911CC37B401 for ; Sun, 27 Jul 2003 12:27:42 -0700 (PDT) Received: from bitblocks.com (bitblocks.com [209.204.185.216]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 044A443F85 for ; Sun, 27 Jul 2003 12:27:42 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from bakul@bitblocks.com) Received: from bitblocks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by bitblocks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h6RJRf2I036692; Sun, 27 Jul 2003 12:27:41 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from bakul@bitblocks.com) Message-Id: <200307271927.h6RJRf2I036692@bitblocks.com> To: Bill Moran In-reply-to: Your message of "Sun, 27 Jul 2003 13:58:30 EDT." <3F2412C6.8030907@potentialtech.com> Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 12:27:41 -0700 From: Bakul Shah cc: chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Nonsense discussion: dreaming up new technology X-BeenThere: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Non technical items related to the community List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2003 19:27:42 -0000 > The overall approach is "interactive prited media". Imagine a sales > brochure where you could press the paper to check/uncheck options and > see the price update right on the paper. A number of display technologies already exist. Google for electronic ink or e-ink. Also look for electro-active ink, organic field-effect transistors (OFETs or OTFT), look for printed displays. Also OLEDs (organic LED) displays. Look for plastic electronics. Think dead-dinosaurs instead of dead-trees :-) Plastics are a lot more versatile than paper for such things. Many of these people are focussing on display applications so it'll be a while before we get to what Neal Stephenson talks about in "The Diamond Age" -- where a computer is sandwiched between display surfaces. > The battery could either be wafer thin and embedded in the paper (you're > using special paper) or (possibly) the chemicles that create a battery > could be stored in ink form and the battery basically "printed" to the > page. Yup. Print the battery too! And print solar cells on margins and other unused areas to charge it. > So. Am I the first to imagine such a thing? How close is the > technology to actually doing it? What does everyone think about it? Not the first. But don't let that bother you! Keep at it! Think of *where* you would use it if it were available. Keep an inventor's log book and have it notarized periodically.