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Self-Recycling Paper
fermion writes "Xerox is reported to be working on some interesting forms of digital paper. The New York Times reports a 16 hour reusable paper. This system uses a coated paper and special ink to produce a copy that will fade over 16 hours, or sooner if the paper is put back in the copy tray. It can then be reused for a new copy, up to 10 times. According to the article, the rational for this is that paper is no longer used to store information, but merely to temporarily display it. The research suggest that in the typical office many copies end up in the recycle bin by the end of the day. The main obstacle to commercialization seems to be the question of whether people need this product. Will people have digital displays that will take the place of paper? Will something radically different from plain paper, but with competitive costs and characteristics, become popular? Xerox itself is working on something called gyricon, a system of tiny bichromal beads encased between sheets of plastics. Evidently the beads can be set electrically to either reflect of absorb light, thus allowing images to be generated at will. According to the page, the images can be set by a printer or a hand held wand. The 'paper' could even be combined with electronics to create a flexible display. So, /., where is our display technology headed? Coated conventional paper? Plastic reprintable paper? Glasses with heads up displays and wireless data feed?"
The reusable paper, I could see being used a lot by businesses - but the problem is one of coexistance with other paper. If you have reusable paper, do you have no real paper? That seems impractical. Or, do you seperate the two and perhaps have reusable paper get mixed up with real paper and tossed? What happens if you forget what you have and take notes that end up on someone else's copy later?
There are indeed many items throughout the day that people need to temporarily display in a dense format, to which paper is ideally suited. But i think electronic paper fed data from the table it sits on or by some other means is probably better suited to this task, since it's truly reusable and probably not something you'd confuse with real paper.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I print stuff, read it, shred it. Why? Cause I like reading paper. The world does not revolve around you and your personal likes and, unfortunately, it doesn't revolve around mine either.
How we know is more important than what we know.
This is an interesting concept but I see it having a major shortcoming:
You are now forced to make a decision before you print on whether the output should be temporary or permanent. Sometimes I will print something thinking it's temporary but I decide I need it longer. Or imagine the potential disaster of writing notes on the printout "in context" and that context disappears after 16 hours. Stuff like "ask Mary about this part" or "copy editing" marks.
I applaud the idea of paper recycling like this but couldn't see myself using it.
I think it has a few other issues too:
1. Needing two printers to print
2. Possibly not being able to distinguish between the two types of paper (assuming they look similar)
3. Having to print twice if you decide that you want a permanent copy
4. Cost(?)
Sunny
Be my Friend
Seems like there would have to be a whole paper etiquette developed for this to work. Like paper clips only, no staple. No folding. No crumpling. Careful with the corners. If you don't, the paper will jam the printer.
.pdfs of the documents to everyone who attended the meeting. At the end of the meeting everyone can return the paper documents so the paper doesn't get bent out of shape.
It could work, though. For example, your department or team has a meeting. Different folks pass out relevant information. Immediately before or after the meeting they may also send
Then again, if you're going to go to the trouble of sending everyone electronic versions of the documents, why not give everyone tablet pc's and forget about the paper altogether?
Have you ever spoken to a photocopier technician?
I used to work in a library - and had to deal with the photocopier and lazer printer issues. You can't stick any old pieces of paper in those puppies - it destroys the printer, makes it jam etc. The reams have to be preferrably kept inside their box till used. Don't open half a packet and leave it there -moisture gets in and makes the paper jam more, drum life decreases - print quality decreases etc...
I'm pictring some secretary jamming creased, folded, curled and otherwise munted pieces of 'recycling paper' into the tray of the work copier... Jim from xerox would probably faint
Jesus Saves
I just hope they make some kind of sign or something on those papers to be easily recognizable, since I think nobody would want to sign some contract papers the text of which later will fade away leaving your signature on a blank paper.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
Nope. After Enron, the SOX-B puts special responsibility on CTO and CEO for retention. They are criminally liable if they are found to have destroyed the paper/e-paper copies, even if the paper itself is innocent.
At my bank, we store ALL papers in HUGE IronMan boxes and cart them off to offsite storage.
Every cubicle and every office now has notices (in addition to OSHA, money laundering, etc) that warn of dire consequences if we scrub/scrap documents without making sure we don't need them.
I have stopped shredding even 2 years old design papers which contain paper scribblings of long-scrapped or long-finished systems.
They are either in my desk drawers (wonder why the desk is creaking...) or submitted for arhival.
Same goes for email.
We have only soft deletes nowadays on emails and nothing is ever deleted. It is just archived.
This disappearing ink will cause more headaches for people and whet the appetites of lawyers.
I can see a scenario in court:
Defendant: "Honestly your honor, i did NOT know it was that disappearing ink paper. I had written out my idea of reconstructing by buying out xyz bank's share in Acme before we ended up with a different deal."
Lawyer: "Not only did the defendant know this was special paper, she was the one who authorized the purchase of the same 4 years ago, knowing well it looked similar to normal paper, with the delibrate intention of using technology to wipe out criminal actions."
I don't think it will ever succeed beyond a fancy circle...
Xerox thought people would use less paper once emails came into vogue. Our usage of paper has shot up by more than 5 times ever since email and PC's came into being. Now we print out emails, powerpoint slides, reports that are never read, etc.
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
...or is this just yet another solution in search of a problem?
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
I read on the screen unless I want to scribble all over it.
...either way, not much use for this paper.
Then I print it out and make notes, draw arrows, underline, scratch things out, etc. etc. -- it's just faster than doing the same with a mouse.
OR I print things out if I'm taking a flight in an economy seat and don't want to struggle with the laptop in limited space.
On the other hand, when I was still working in a corporate environment, we'd have lots of meetings where there'd be a printout to refer to during the discussion (and everyone would get a copy). Then after the meeting they'd all get tossed. That seems like a valid application of this technology.
I can imagine the publishing industry using this to only sell you a temporary license to a newspaper, magazine or book. :-(
Why?
- Because if you are reading a document of any real size you can read much faster from paper then you can from a computer screen. Do a speed reading test on a computer and then from printed text. Your speed when reading from paper will win.
- Because you can skim a 50 page report with real speed only if you have it on good old fashioned paper. Find a 50 page PDF file with a passage that you need and see how many minutes it takes to find it. Then print it out and flip through the pages and see how many seconds it takes.
Your brain and eyes are made to operate in a 3D world with real 3D objects. A piece or stack of paper is a real 3D object. The speed that your brain can do an amazingly high resolution search with the eyes is astounding.
Or you could use a 1024x768 display that flips through one static image at a time. Why is there even a question about this?