A new post on innovation-report inform about a new ''break through'' on material sciences coming from the University of Cincinnati, a Disposable e-paper. Actually from the scientific side it's really a break through. A paper based technology that enables to display information, in different ways including video, as the screens are doing it today but with the difference that would be flexible and low cost; todays standard technology (as kindle and ipad) relays on complex circuitry printed on glass that's expensive and of course rigid.
Until now everything it's OK but what catch my attention was the link between low-cost and disposability. The scientist claim that this technology would be so affordable that at the end of the day or the week you can just throw it to the garbage can. My worries are why we attached the value of and object, and in this case a really awesome product of Technic, just to its monetary value. In other words, why because is cheap it's OK to throw it to the garbage! It's not so that we cannot see value in other things other that money like functionality, convenience or even human effort (of developing such device) or the notion that maybe the intrinsic value that having something like that in our possession maybe higher that let it go to the property (and personal preoccupation and involvement free) space of the trash stream.
Cheap cannot be a synonym of disposability. Affordability cannot be a synonym of bad quality. And the garbage can cannot be the goal for technology development nor the end point of the value chain.
The report claims this technology maybe available in the market three to five years from now, we can only expect that until then our ways to see this issues change a little bit.
via: Innovations report
Image: Flickr/Kranky
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