I first saw German-based startup, Plastic Logic, demo their remarkable flexible screen technology in Seoul in 2005 at the World Newspaper Congress. They had a small booth and small flexi-screen sample back then. And, I last updated Visual Editors in August of 2006 with a video round up of the latest e-readers. Today, my friends at SportsDesigner posted up a notice of a film clip they spotted.
Here is a demo video with Richard Archuleta, the CEO Plastic Logic, demonstrating the world’s first electronic reader aimed specifically for business users.
There is also a PR-ish video from the BBC that has a demo of the new product. Clearly it is designed for a print-centric businessperson.
But.
What a device like this needs in order to be to be a hit in the market is to seek to become the iPod for printed matter. I also think it needs to be in color and support video . . . .
Why? iTunes. A gadget like this without a dead-simple distribution network for updating the content it holds is nothing more than sci-fi one-hit marvel for Q to furnish James Bond with.
Now, what would make this reader a killer app would be to sync the reader to iTunes and be able download the latest edition of your e-newspaper, sync up with your Google docs, and let you copy over Powerpoint presentations as easy as if it were a thumb drive.
When I see a demo that shows me that kind of expereince, then we can all go “‘Ka-Ching’, this is the real thing.”
For many business travelers -the functionality I describe above is really needed on the road. A handy way to read reports, get video briefings and also give presentations.
Professionals already do e-mail on their Blackberry or iPhone - so they probably aren’t looking for a reader with Web access. Not yet, anyway.
What the average business user would respond to is a reader that can be refreshed instantly with all their time-critical content and have the reader also serve as a robust presentation tool.
The thought of leaving the laptop and chargers behind is very attractive to road warriors. Leaving weight and bulk issues aside, the security issues for executives bringing laptops along with when they only need to read the latest reports or give a Powerpoint are beginning to outweigh the benefits of the machine. A smartly-tailored e-reader could be a game changer.
A device like this presents a lower risk to sensitive data moving out of an exec’s (or employee’s) control. Plus it appears that it is super-thin. If I can get the iTunes style sync up and VGA hook-ups I need to present reports, powerpoints and videos, and I might be tempted to dust off my old leather brief-case and go retro to my next appointment. And so would you, I am betting. Retro with a twist, naturally.
I hope Steve Jobs is looking at this reader market as the next growth for iTunes content delivery. Makes sense for Apple to build on their strengths in distributing content that already serves a wide audience with podcasts, videos, movies, ring tones and recorded music.
For publishers, this scenario could deliver a much-needed revenue stream and the precise audience measurements that could keep them in the publishing business.
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