Esquire magazine are celebrating their 75th anniversary with a unique e-ink cover panel, literally merging print and digital content delivery in one package - Details & videos at Esquire online
The product itself is pretty simple, a standard e-ink display delivering a flashing black & white message. It’s probably more innovative as a marketing tool than as a genuinely useful addition to the magazine, but hey, they’re the 1st to have done this and you’ve got to start somewhere.
Interestingly, in the true spirit of the Internet, hackers have got their hands on it already (see Make blog post) I love that this hacker ethos can creep into such a traditional medium, not in any negative sense, but in the fact that as soon as there’s an opportunity to play with or modify the medium, there are users out there who’ll do it, which is exactly what allowed the web to develop at such a rapid speed.
For a full e-ink magazine experience, publications such as Time, Newsweek & Forbes are now delivered on Amazons ‘Kindle’ e-ink reader. However, the technology doesn’t yet serve the needs of full-colour glossies. One day though…
Update 15/10/08: This just in - How to make an e-paper clock out of Esquire magazine