#925 – Thin
Posted on December 28, 2009 at 12:00 am by Chris
Chapter: Comics
I wrote this as a joke of course but now that it’s done I wonder if this will actually exist in the future. The e-ink technology will advance far enough to have a “paper thin” device that you could use as a bookmark. It will have a built in wireless connection to download new designs. It will have a built in dictionary and a twitter client to send out tweets letting everyone know what page you are on.
Tags
True, it seems everything is transforming into portable, rechargeable, electronic devices these days. We’re even developing new recharging technology to keep up with it. Case and point: a friend of mine just got one of those new Powermats that recharges up to three devices by resting them on it.
Shiny!
I use my iPhone as a bookmark all the time. http://yfrog.com/1y5cogj
Should I be a little embarrassed that I think the bookmark you described sounds AWESOME?
apparently they are also working on developing phones that use residual cell phone waves (whatever those are called) etc. to slowly re-charge the battery (they take the power from the waves) they’re just trying to make it more useful so that it will charge itself quickly enough to almost never or never have to be actually charged by plugging it into anything o.O
@MaxtotheMax – This comic is really just market research for my secret technology company. We appreciate your continued input.
It sucks when an electronic bookmark goes dead. It can take seconds to scroll back to where you were. Annoying!
Is this anything like Biff’s electric walking stick? However, the product you described honestly seems like a sound business venture.
Well, cellphones get skinnier all the time, don’t they? Once iPhones reach the point of skinny no return, this sounds like a profitable download.
@Chris This is genius! except me personally not a fan of twitter, but it’s something I could actually go for! except how much do you think it would run? that’s a lot of micro-technology… yeesh that’d be expensive.
Well, there’s a Twitter client to let you know when to water a plant, so why not? (I’d totally get one of those for fun if they weren’t so pricy, cacti are the only plants I can successfully water).
@ Chris: Yes, this is definitely a marketable product.
@ Kasain: The power system you describe was actually invented by Tesla and was tested. As I recall, it worked but he (for financial reasons) had to build his test lab on an island that did not weather a storm well. Lost everything. Tesla was a mad skillz inventor, but a lousy businessman.
Great product, indeed.
PATENT IT!!!!
Actually, with a built-in dictionary alone… can you even imagine how useful that would be when reading books in other languages?
SELL THE IDEA – I WANT ONE.
Scary, how plausible this one is… Pet Rock for the ’10s!
You should totally patent that.
I agree with all of the above. Patent it, quick!
I often just use a ripped piece of paper as a bookmark.
This is like an accessory for a Kindle. Patent it and sell it to the Kindle making company quickly!
This comic made me think of all the things in sci-fi movies from 10-20 years ago that exist now – things like touchscreen computers and phones, infrared mouses that need no surface, transparent mobile phones (concept model, it hasn’t been officially created yet) and interactive displays like in Firefly.
Okay, the last one doesn’t exist, but it probably will sometime soon.
I just hope it doesn’t get too descriptive regarding what page you’re on. It’d be a haven for spoilers.
The Duck Has Spoken.
I find myself more interested in the title of the book he’s reading.
me too. Secrets of the Toaster Snake, i wonder if its a how-to manual or if Biff is trying to figure out how to handle it w/out being attacked
Problem is, by the time such a bookmark exists, all portable electronic devices will recharge without wires and docks, thus making Biff’s bookmark not only eccentric, but unimaginably obsolete.
@Del Cambo – But he has one right now!
This rif on an electronic bookmark SERIOUSLY scares me.
Fortunately – or not – I don’t ‘do’ e-books. I have plenty of time when I go to bed for reading stuff on dead trees. However, my wife got lucky in the christmas frenzy. Her husband bought her an ETACO Jetbook. She loves it
Now I have an early start on NEXT xmas! Wheee! no more sleeping on the invisible green couch!
SIGHGROANETC.
It hurts because it’s true…
Take it a step further; the text is encoded with audio/visual data, and the bookmark can read it and display what you’re reading in a sorta real-time movie.
You know this will happen.
I wish I could say I’m reading this strip on my Kindle, but it’s currently charging.