This morning we were talking about students’ work and the necessary annoyance of lugging around large bundles of paper. I had an idea to have digital memory inserted into the paper so the file of the document could be uploaded onto a computer. It would save me a whole bunch of time if books came with digital versions. It would also provide instant digital backups with the hard copy.
Anyway, today slashdot has a story about a paper battery/supercapacitor. Maybe this is the first step towards paper embedded with digital files. Why would this be awesome?
The next stage would be for the paper to record your marks not only on the page but onto the digital file. Then you could upload the marked digital version of the document from the paper version of the document and simply email it. I have a massive stack of dissertation chapters with corrections and feedback on them…
Top idea…announcing it to the world, however, might limit your chances of patenting it yourself and making millions!!!
yeah! each bit of paper would be like a use-once computer screen, in the sense of it being an interface. Printers would print paper interface screens rather than normal paper.
then in books you could have a wireless connection so notes made in a book in your shelf and made from ‘screen paper’ could be read from your computer
Glen – I love sitting under a tree reading a book – not looking at a screen!
exactly!
the idea is about giving some digital properties to actual paper!!!