fers a sort of two- dimensional plane with three-dimensional capabilities. Graphene has been called a ‘wonder material.’ It is more conductive than a silicon chip, it’s translucent and it’s as hard as a diamond. Above all, it is flexible. From solar cells to electric circuits to flexible, wearable tech- nology, graphene’s potential could be lim- itless.
While graphene is not new, to this point its practical applications have been too cost- prohibitive for most industries. Research- ers at Cambridge University are hoping to change that. The school recently opened a nearly US$40 million Graphene Centre (thanks in part to up to two billion Euros in funding from the EU over the next ten years), hoping to take the technology to the next level.
This is good news for the publishing indus- try. After a disappointing 2011, the amount of money that consumers spent globally on applications doubled in 2012, with tablet us- ers saying they were more likely to purchase an ebook or magazine than a newspaper subscription, according to ABI Research.
For apps to take off, more people need to own tablets. With graphene, tablets have the potential to be cheaper to produce and easier to recycle than the tablets we use to- day, not to mention the added benefits of
bridge the gap between magazine and tablet: an inter-
active, truly portable, disposable epaper.
Fo r a publication like National Geo-
graphic, this could mean having a docu- mentary-style video in the middle of a magazine. Sports Illustrated could similarly insert highlight reels. Playboy could - well, you get the idea. Down the line, graphene could become so cheap to produce and easy to recycle that people could buy a dispos- able graphene magazine issue from their supermarket newsstand and just recycle it when they’re done.
But will readers flock to a new-form tab- let? Where some electronic devices lend themselves to digital ‘bells and whistles’, the Kindle strives to eliminate them. Since its debut in 2007, the Kindle has tried to re- create the experience of reading any regu- lar magazine or book. To date, users have responded well. Amazon sold roughly 10.5 million Kindles in 2012; less than projected, but still a significant segment of the epaper market. Ebooks are now a billion dollar in- dustry worldwide.
So while media companies try to figure out how to create the best digital magazine reading experience, it seems as if the best way to predict the future is to prototype it using and testing some of these new tech- nologies as they come along.