p2pnet - rss feed: Disappearing prints
p2pnet news | Cool Stuff:- Being able to store documents on discs and hard drives was going to revolutionise the way offices were run, said the pundits back when computers stopped being the exclusive territory of wealthy corporations.
But it didn’t happen and somehow, there seems to be just as much paper around today as there ever was.
However, Xerox Research Centre of Canada scientists believe they’ve found a way to solve at least part of the problem.
And their innovation may perhaps please environmentalists at the same time.
They’ve invented a way to make prints whose images last only a day, so that the paper can be used over and over.
“The technology, which is still in a preliminary state, blurs the line between paper documents and digital displays and could ultimately lead to a significant reduction in paper use,” says the company.
The experimental printing technology resulted from a collaboration between the Canadian centre and PARC (Palo Alto Research Center).
Xerox has estimated that as many as two out of every five pages printed in the office are for ‘daily’use, ie, emails, web pages and reference materials printed for a one-time viewing.
The company has filed for patents on the technology, which it calls “erasable paper” as part of a laboratory project tfocussing on the concept of future dynamic documents.
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Xerox - Experimental Xerox Paper Erases Itself, 2008
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May 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 am
I can just see some stupid business executive rejecting this out of hand because of some unjustifiable need to keep records of everything. “What if someone makes a mistake and prints our important documents…”
Also, one can imagine that if this hits mainstream, a lot of people will start photocopying a lot of documents they receive, for fear they are printed with this technology.
Finally, skammers rejoice!
May 3rd, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I would reject it only because records must be keep for 7 years.
If some idiot at the office went and filed these we would be in shit if we got audited.
May 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I have a better idea; Instead of documents that erase themselves after a certain period of time, which is a really stupid idea, how about documents that CAN be erased when the person wants to re-use the paper? Build the erasure mechanism into the copier. Then people can just collect old documents that are no longer needed, load them into the paper tray and re-use them. This way you wouldn’t have important documents disappearing while you might still need them.
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I agree with Rekrul.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
1. Sign out a loan on this kind of paper
2. ….
3. PROFIT!
May 4th, 2008 at 1:54 am
One time use documents that you can’t make notes on, circle an item, underline anything or otherwise annotate without ruining…
It will never catch on without significant improvement.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:43 am
I can see it being used for contracts. If only the cost of ink would disappear with it.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:20 am
I don’t think you can use ink on them. From reading the link, it appears that the paper is marked using only light. If you put something on it, (ink, pencil marks) I don’t think the marks will disappear.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
How much money will be saved by reusing paper and how much will the handling of the paper for reuse will cost? If the handling will cost more than the savings, there will be a net loss.
I predict the added paper handling will cost far more than the savings in paper at current paper costs.
This idea may be good if the cost of paper increases drastically or if a law makes it obligatory to reduce paper consumption for environmental reasons.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Rekrul- That is a really good idea. EE’s observation is valid about being able to mark up documents. So develop and sell pens that can mark the page and still be erased using the same technology. Run with it!
May 7th, 2008 at 8:19 am
This technology is anything but new. I used to have a pen 20 years ago where the ink disappeared after couple of hours.