Intelligent Paper

So the other night I had a dream that there was a new commodity on the market called Intelligent Paper, an invention that did for books what Director’s Cut DVDs do for film. It was for all intents and purposes regular paper, except when you tapped a sentence–any sentence–twice with your finger, all kinds of little multicolored errata would pop up, like those old VH1 Pop-Up Videos, or the Comments feature in Microsoft Word. What would these “extras” say? Definitions of words, author’s commentary, you name it.

Upon waking, I was at first stunned at what a revolutionary invention Intelligent Paper would be. But then I realized that the new crop of electronic paper eBooks, and indeed the Web page probably trump Intelligent Paper in terms of functionality–it’s as fruitless as a visionary dream of 8 Tracks 2.0

In my dream I was passing a newsstand at an airport, and there were several paperbacks and comic books, available in two editions–regular, and Intelligent Paper! Was that a nerdy dream or what?

6 Responses to Intelligent Paper

  1. Christo January 22, 2008 at 12:58 pm #

    Haha, I also have this dream….
    A 2 by 2 bicycle.
    In some way, it must be possible to link the frontwheel to something generated by your knees for example to add power.

    Maybe not.

  2. Christo January 22, 2008 at 1:01 pm #

    Ohh, an another one, who do laptops/notebooks not have a scrollpad on the side.
    Like the touchpad you use if you do not have a mouse with you.

    Something that enhance scrolling should be added to the side of the keyboard.

    Maybe not

  3. Frank Spencer January 22, 2008 at 4:37 pm #

    Ah, Intelligent Paper! Have you seen Vodafone’s “vision of the future” website? Peruse the entire nteractive portion, you’ll love it (http://www.vodafone.com/start/innovation/future_vision0.html), but look at the “Entertainment: London, England” and “Experience” under “Visual Bracelet” in particular. Then click “A” (She wants to stay home for the evening), and, VIOLA – Electronic Paper! See what you think.

  4. Mark Goodyear January 22, 2008 at 10:15 pm #

    8 Track 2.0 is hilarious! I stumbled across some 8 Tracks in our archives the other day…

    I’m not sure I agree about intelligent paper though. Maybe it’s just a bad metaphor, but I’m thinking it’s really about ubiquitous interactive, mobile, durable screen technology than an improvement on paper itself.

    Just got back from the vodafone site. The wrist band and the city map are exactly what I was talking about. I wish they had an example that incorporated more text, though.

  5. zoecarnate January 24, 2008 at 5:20 am #

    Christo, it’s always a pleasure. Frank, thanks for the link. And Mark, I agree that it’s a bad metaphor. Thank you for the comments, all!

  6. tmdeppner February 1, 2008 at 6:36 pm #

    Love the “nerdy” dream. I love it when I remember dreams like that — something interesting and fun that actually means something in the real world. Even if they wouldn’t really “work” or be practical, it thrills me to have my mind come up with something bizarrely cool without my conscious assistance. Heh. Use it in a sci-fi story.

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