Slashdot Mirror
E-Paper On Cereal Boxes
coastin writes "Wired Mag has an article about electronics maker Siemens,
readying a paper-thin electronic-display technology. They say
it is so cheap it could replace conventional labels on disposable
packaging. Imagine items on grocer's shelves that flash commercials
at you as you walk by. From the article: 'When kids see flashing
pictures on cereal boxes we don't expect them to just ask for the
product, but to say, "I want it", said Axel Gerlt, an engineer
at Siemens tasked with helping packaging companies implement the
technology.'"
to alienate parents?
Flashing stuff on boxes all over the supermarket? That's got to be a nightmare for those suffering from epilepsy.
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
> From the article: 'When kids see flashing pictures on cereal boxes we don't
> expect them to just ask for the product, but to say, "I want it", said Axel
> Gerlt, an engineer at Siemens tasked with helping packaging companies implement
> the technology.'
Western culture appears to have lost its vision.
New technology being thought of in terms of how much you can make a child coerce its parent into buying cereal?
We're amusing ourselves to death.
Let me know when it's legal to grab people on the street and inject them with chemicals to suggest irresistable urges to buying my company's project.
(you know it's coming...)
Are we getting close to the moving photographs in the Harry Potter movies?
Seeing Nick Nolte's mug shot scowling out at me from a post office wall would be most disconcerting.
Then again, a moving poster of [insert favorite model here] would be most intriguing.
Successfully condensing fact from the vapor of nuance since 1998.
New technology being though in terms of not how to inform consumers but how to bypass the most informed and target the least informed, depending on them to persuade the better informed. Note: the child frequently doesn't actually want the cereal itself in this particular situation, but just the pretty box.
I can't tell you how many boxes of Frosted Flakes I ate for the primary goal of getting the Disney Afternoon figurine inside. There were also numerous times I thought I wanted something, but didn't actually know what it was.
Pretty please?
Oh, and make it uncrippled. Yes, I'm looking at you, Sony.
Part of me thinks e-paper is going to be really cool and will allow us to make some neat gadgets. But at the same time, I'm terrified of what the marketing folks are going to do with it. We are already at a point where advertising pervades our environment everywhere we go. When it all starts flashing and jumping and pointing and demanding our attention at all times I think I'm going to go totally insane. I really think I might just snap and actually go crazy. And I suspect I'm not alone.
Cool - Lets replace biodegradable*, recyclable paper boxes with a mix of paper plastic and metals that can't be recycled and will leech nasty stuff (think batteries) into the environment.
*OK, the inks involved can be fairly nasty, but there are less nasty options used by some.
When kids see flashing pictures on cereal boxes we don't expect them to just ask for the product, but to say, "I want it"
And I expect good parents to whack them upside the head until they say please.
And then whack them upside the head until they politely shut up after the parent says "No".
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
...it's that in a world where all the advertisements are flashly, the plain one stands out.
I can see there being huge money in this for the first adult publication company to make moving porn magazines, or moving porn images on paper. The hype alone would eat up the initial cost in sales, and they could build up a huge brand on being the only one to offer it.
The adult industry was the original driving force behind the internet progressing, so who knows what will happen next. If theres money in it, you can guarantee that the big adult companies will come knocking on the door after a while.
Business Voyeur
Imagine items on grocer's shelves that flash commercials at you as you walk by
And imagine me walking to the nearest competitor that will not annoy me with real life pop-up adds.
Well, with something like a cereal box I doubt they would need to cover the entire thing, so you could have the same old box of Frosted Flakes but with an animated Tony the Tiger hawking his wares.
By leaving most of the original printing intact the application of power becomes optional and could be done through an inductive system set on the store shelf. It probably wouldn't cost the store too much to begin with and would pay for itself after a short period. Not to mention, once the box is off the shelf, an animated label would have already served it's purpose.
So much for the value added possibility of seeing something *new* on the box when it gets ready during breakfast.
Even people that believe in pre-destiny look both ways before crossing the street.
It seems that Phillip K. Dick's vision of a future where no one can escape annoying advertising is coming true. If we're not careful, Orwell's prediction of government controlled speech will come true. Oh wait...it already has.
Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time is enemy action.
And TV is more expensive than newprint. Guess which one is in deep sales trouble.
I agree.
As a side comment, recycling paper is dumb. Planting (and eventually harvesting) trees is a net win for the environment. Chemically treating used paper is a net loss for the environment.
-Peter
E-Paper or not, these displays will need power. From batteries. What an environmental nightmare.
Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
This post is underrated. The quote When kids see flashing pictures on cereal boxes we don't expect them to just ask for the product, but to say, "I want it" is absolutely disgusting. They are breeding mindless consumerism, and making the life of any parent that has to take their children shopping with them hell. It's bad enough when kids try and grab boxes as you push by, but having the boxes TELLING the children to pick them up is even worse.
Microsoft Sucks, F/OSS Rocks. I get mod points now right?
I know it mentions children, who are extremely impressionable, but how many of you are actually influenced by advertisment. Especially of existing items that have not and probably will not change. If you already know what the item is, what it tastes like/does, will repetitiveness really make you more suseptable(sp) to buy that item? The only point I have ever seen in any advertisement is for new products or changes to existing products. Pretty much, If I want something, I know what I want and go and get it. Flashy pictures will not persuade me to get Frosted Flakes over Capt Crunch.
How many times can you watch some dude pumping his schlong into some chick before finally getting bored with it all and going out to find the real thing? The only positive thing about porn is that it's a better contraceptive than contraceptives.
The cost of the food, as you point out, is only a small portion of the true cost of a product.
You have to account for that "everything else" BEFORE you can think about the extra cost of the digital display. Just because you have put ePaper on a cereal box doesn't mean you don't have to market it or ship it. The cost of that display is above and beyond everything else, and must directly eat in to the profit margin.
You could minimize that buy requiring a deposite.
However, our problem with trash is not volume of space, it's how we manage it.
We could dig a hole in the middle of the US 3x3x3 miles in size, double the estimated amount of trash we will create in the next 1000 years, and it wouldn't be half full.
Putting tiny dumps near places where people live is not the best way to manage it anymore.
Truck it out of neighborhood, swap the trashholder with an empty one, trainf the garbage to a nation wide cetral location.
I would create 10 smaller one it different locations, depending on major train stops.
10 smaller one would be easier to create and manage.
It's abig project, but so was Golden Gate, the Empire state Building, and the Hover Dam.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
One word: standard packaging. If you have boxes that change their complete look when filled with new goods, this would make recycling easier. No need to wash off previous labels.
R&D scientist : I developed a cheap film to replace replace ink, using very little power. Current resolution is pretty low but with funding, we can probably triple that within 2 years.
Marketing : Holy shit, do you realize what this means?Just imagine the possibilities!
R&D scientist : I know, like, within 2-3 generations of the technology might be good enough to replace the majority of day-to-day paper printout. Imagine a little tablet, or "notepad", let's say with a rechargable battery and a wireless link to your computer to upload content. Mindboggling!
Marketing : Screw that, I'm talking about more ads, we could put this stuff on CEREAL BOXES for christ sake - the film & disposable batteries would be so cheap we could AFFORD TO THROW IT AWAY. Woohoo, I'm going to be RICH!
Assholes.