Bowling for Sony

Another day off at work. Spent about six hours. Four on next weeks schedule, two fixing other stuff that came up. I don't know where the time goes. Just that it was dark when I left.

Our new Sony Readers are in. They are an electronic book with a new kind of screen which is cool, but just about everything else is uncool. Typical Sony propriatary crap. The electronic books are same price as print copies. Not Mac compatible. And quite expensive ($350) with expensive accessories ($50 for a USB "dock" that is simply a USB plug with a clear plastic stand. (http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/itpd/reader/)

The electronic "paper" was developed by E Ink (http://www.eink.com/technology/index.html):
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Electronic ink is a proprietary material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic displays. Although revolutionary in concept, electronic ink is a straightforward fusion of chemistry, physics and electronics to create this new material. The principal components of electronic ink are millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. In one incarnation, each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top of the microcapsule where they become visible to the user. This makes the surface appear white at that spot. At the same time, an opposite electric field pulls the black particles to the bottom of the microcapsules where they are hidden. By reversing this process, the black particles appear at the top of the capsule, which now makes the surface appear dark at that spot.

To form an E Ink electronic display, the ink is printed onto a sheet of plastic film that is laminated to a layer of circuitry. The circuitry forms a pattern of pixels that can then be controlled by a display driver. These microcapsules are suspended in a liquid "carrier medium" allowing them to be printed using existing screen printing processes onto virtually any surface, including glass, plastic, fabric and even paper. Ultimately electronic ink will permit most any surface to become a display, bringing information out of the confines of traditional devices and into the world around us.

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So I guess eventually the rest of the world will make use of this cool technology. Maybe even Apple will figure a great use for this. Or Palm... Something less anal-retentive than Sony's usual approach (can you say "memory stick"?).

I'm waiting for a Hawaiian Bowling Shirt that can be programmed to display your bowling score and light up when you make a strike...