Gearfuse

We found little purpose for the E-paper cover of Esquire magazine’s October 2008 issue. That’s not to say we didn’t like it. It’s stylish and way cooler than that “boobless” trick with a calculator. We just think it’s a little bulkier than it should be, considering it’s the cover of a magazine.

Hack a Day’s Ian Lesnet took the Esquire cover to the lab where they tore it apart like a guinea pig in Biology class. The resulting project formed something useful out of the E-paper cover that anyone can build: a digital clock. It might not be the coup de grâce of all clocks, but it’s still more useful than it was when it was a magazine cover.

Link

With Esquire’s 75th anniversary taking place this year, the magazine released its latest issue with an E-Ink cover that comes with plenty of bits and pieces for DIYers to take apart and mess with. Phillip Torrone of MAKE points out the minor potential the E-ink cover has in regards to hacking but approves of its design with much enthusiasm. He writes:

“I know a lot of media folks & tech sites are pooping on this cover – but someone needed to start somewhere, I’m glad there’s an E-Ink cover in existence, it’s clear it’s going to be decades until it’s something that’s very common…”

Hardware fused with magazines and books?  We approve of such devices. Can you imagine Mad Magazine with an E-ink fold-in on the last page. It’d be completely electronic and eliminate the need to fold it yourself. You’d never make a bad crease and you’d always see the fold-in picture, eliminating the enjoyment and frustration as you attempt to guess what it is in the first place.

Editor’s Note: That fold-in idea is a genius!
(more…)