Advantages of E-Paper & E-Ink in Various Industries

The advantages of E-Paper & E-Ink can be beneficial to a variety of organizations across all industries. These advantages demonstrate many of the reasons why this information technology may soon be found everywhere you look!


All Industries:

• Higher Productivity: No matter what field an organization is in, if they make use of books, codes of conduct, operational manuals etc. this technology will benefit the organization. It will reduce clutter and provide the worker with all the information they need in one place so they never run the risk of misplacing a book or worse, throwing out a vital piece of information. This IT provides a work space that promotes higher productivity through streamlining processes (time is never wasted on searching for necessary materials). Also, it reduces strain on eyes because it allows font sizes to be increased to a comfortable size for the reader. This too makes for a more productive worker because they are experiencing better health. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it allows the company to provide workers with up to date information, manuals and codes without consuming too much time or money. With one click of a button all employees have the newest version of the required document at their fingertips.

• Portability: If a company has employees who are always on the go (whether around town or traveling on trips overseas) and physically out of the office the E-Paper is the perfect solution for them to take all of the materials they need with them in a small and light package. The chance of having forgotten information back at the office is eliminated!

• Environment: All organizations strive to be environmentally responsible in today’s market because consumers have begun to opt for companies that are less harmful to our planet. The strain on forests and the overall environment caused by large consumption of paper would be minimized.

• Power efficiency: E-Ink Corporation has found that the E-Paper displays uses 1/1000th of the power that an LCD screen uses. That saves a lot of energy when an entire company is concerned and thus, money.

Magazine / Newspapers:

• This technology has the potential to revive the magazine and newspaper industries and bring them increased profits. The advent of the internet took readers, and consequently advertisers, away from print media. With E-paper advertisers would likely return seeing as they would have the ability to target specific audiences thus, increasing their sales. The magazines and newspapers would also experience lower costs because no production and distribution so those costs would be eliminated completely. Also, building and administration expenses would decrease as well as the staff size and thus, the wages payable. “E Ink's Mr. Wilcox said the publishing industry spends $30 billion U.S. annually in order to release newspapers, magazines, books and other publications. Using e-paper methods, the industry could save as much as $15 billion U.S. every year.” (http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=277ee375-35df-43e1-80b5-017133b77b2c)

Army:

• An organization in its own right, the U.S. Army granted $43.7 million to Arizona State University in February 2004 so they could develop a portable information screen for soldiers to use on the battlefield. In this case the technology could save the lives of ‘employees.’

Small Companies:

• Niche media could “grow their markets exponentially, with new editorial methods and distribution mechanisms never before possible.” (http://hotspring.wordpress.com/tag/e-paper/) E-Paper would grant even the smallest of companies to effectively reach large amounts of consumers at low cost.

References:

(http://www.eink.com/technology/flexible.html)
http://www.editorsweblog.org/2007/12/eink_may_prove_profitable_in_t.php
(http://hotspring.wordpress.com/tag/e-paper/)
(http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-115725.html)
(http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=277ee375-35df-43e1-80b5-017133b77b2c)