Marketing ploy of the year: 'Esquire's' digital E-Ink cover

In case you hadn't heard already, this morning Esquire officially unveiled the first "digital" E-Ink cover in paper magazine history at an event in a Borders store in Manhattan. The special cover, which helps promote/commemorate Esquire's 75th anniversary edition, is only incorporated into 100,000 copies, all of which are available only at newsstands for $5.99 a pop--that's $2 more than the usual price. Sorry, subscribers, you get a ho-hum nondigital version.

The whole venture is sponsored by Ford and its campaign for its new "crossover" vehicle, the Flex. The cover is actually pretty cool in a gee-look-what-we-can-do sort of way; it's basically an electronic billboard that flashes on and off in different sequences, highlighting words and images. E-ink is monochrome but there's a plastic overlay that has some color images printed on it, so from a distance, the ink appears to be in color in spots--but it's not. On the inside of the cover, there's also a bit of e-ink flashing on the background of a Ford Flex ad that kind of makes the car look like it's moving (OK, not really, but I'm trying to be generous).

Neither Esquire, Ford, nor E-Ink would say how much it cost to produce the special cover, but we imagine it wasn't cheap. As for the built in battery that powers the 2.0 by 4.75-inch electronic paper display (EPD), Esquire Editor in Chief David Granger said they initially expected it to last 90 days but it appears it will last significantly longer--upwards of 250 days. Once the battery dies (it's not replaceable) a static image will be left on the EPD. In other words, part of the display will remain "on" with the ghosted remnants of the E-Ink, much like what Amazon's Kindle does with its screensaver images.

All in all, we're not sure what the point of the whole exercise is because Esquire is a paper magazine and wants to stay that way. But as a marketing stunt, it's fantastic for all the parties involved. Esquire gets to appear cutting edge, as does Ford. And E-ink? Well, plenty of people have heard of the Kindle and maybe Sony's Reader, but not that many people know what kind of technology is at their core. With potential competitors like Plastic Logic and its superslim electronic reader popping up, E-Ink needs to try to stay ahead of the curve.

What do you guys think?

Related news: Plastic Logic's plastic reader is thin, simple, strong

[smarer]

This is neat, electronic ink, I can imagine the possibilities... But what happens to the battery when the reader is finished reading? They throw it in the trash and it goes to the local landfill and becomes toxic waste = e-ink transforms to e-waste?

Does the reader understand there is a battery and you cannot throw it into the trash?

[Ordonator]

This seems like one of those things that people will naysay even as it gradually becomes reality. Someday we'll look back with nostolgia and try to imagine a time when we lived without it. (Think: radio with moving pictures, who would want that?).

As for toxic waste, I don't believe this is the first time a company has acted without regards to the environment. We are talking about auto-makers here.

[PittCaleb]

We received a magazine with an embedded music player last year. I think it may have exclusively been an advertisement. The "page" was a sandwich of cardstock type pager and electronics. There was a speaker, a small chip and battery. This "stunt" is not without precedent, so why get upset about it?

As for recycling, and yes, I recycle, I simply removed the electronic parts and then put the rest of the magazine in the paper. The battery was still recyclable, even if "non-replaceable" The only piece that didn't go into recycling was the speaker and wire. No big deal folks...

Just found the photos I took at the time. See them on my Flickr Stream
http://flickr.com/photos/pittcaleb/2844095444/

[solitare_pax]

While it is an interesting application, I want to know why they didn't opt for a small solar cell to run the e-ink - on the inside and outside? Look, you need light to see it (it's non-illuminating, isn't it?) and I thought part of the 'promise' was that it used less power than a calculator display - so why use a battery that will die? Seems like a waste of money - especially for Ford who seems 'hard up' for cash since its gas-guzzlers aren't bringing in the heaps of money they used to.