The future of magazines

Some of you may have already seen the news about the new issue of Esquire magazine containing E-ink on the cover. Computer Love posted something about it. I saw it on the news this morning. I'm definitely going to run to the newsstands today after work to check it out in person. (video of the Esquire cover at the very bottom of this post)

This got me thinking about the future of magazines. I've often heard that eventually print will be "dead." I don't believe that, but I do think mass marketed items like newspapers and magazines will definitely change in the near future. Personally I think that E-ink is awesome and will just get better and better. If you've ever seen the movie Minority Report then you might remember how the newspapers people were reading had moving type and pictures all over it. I think that could be close to what our future print will look like.

Here's one product that will be available in the Fall of 2009 that is one step closer to "the future". It's basically a bigger e-book reader to replace magazines. Since it's E-ink based it's probably only black & white. I can't wait for color E-ink. It's two biggest selling points (for me) is that it is the size and thickness of a magazine, and that it is flexible. All it needs is for the E-ink technology to get better and I might just buy one.

Here's the next generation of e-reader, taking the same E Ink tech used in the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader to the next level. Made by Plastic Logic, this flexible (but not foldable) electronic newspaper is the size of a regular 8.5x11" sheet of copier paper, making it 2.5 times larger than a Kindle, but weighs a mere two ounces more and is a third as thick. It'll have a wireless connection for quick updating, a gestural interface compatible with Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF documents, and a battery whose life will last "days, not hours," according to its creators.

(via DVICE)