The Package IS The Device?.

A few issues ago I commented on how the package of Logitech's iFeel MouseMan really stood out on my shelf, blinking-blinking-blinking its red LED to assure I never forgot that it was sitting there
(http://www.compaq.com/rcfoc/20001211.html#_Toc500827752). But it seems that, driven by technologies that promise to have a broad impact on the rapidly changing face of computing, this was only the initial salvo in a high-tech packaging war.

Brought to our attention by reader Mike Enloe, the Feb. 1 Wall Street Journal (http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB980984172975255831.htm) describes how paper expertise from International Paper Company, and a new ultra-thin, flexible, bio-degradable battery technology from
Israeli company Power Paper Ltd.
(http://www.powerpaper.com/techTopfrset2.html), have teamed up change the face of store shelves.

With hints of the "roll to roll manufacturing" of active components that we recently discussed (http://www.compaq.com/rcfoc/20010129.html - Toc504916680), these new batteries, "can be rolled off a press like ink onto paper," and they power ultra-tiny, multi-colored light bulbs that can flash product logos, provide scrolling song lists on CD jewel cases, or tout the benefits of the newest lipstick -- perhaps in its new shade. Or how about, as depicted by Power Paper, smart cards with built-in displays:

[Image - Power Paper concept idea - http://www.powerpaper.com/openPics/marketsProducts2.jpg]

This could also open up a whole new market for those "promotional goodies" that are given away at trade shows...

We should, in theory, see this new packaging on shelves before the end of this year. And given how "eye appeal" has a lot to do with what we buy, I have a feeling that the days of "mere" static, colorful
packages, are now numbered. I just hope that they don't build sensors and speakers into the next generation of packages, allowing them to call out and beg to be bought as we wander the aisles...

Similarly, there are other very untraditional technologies, and manufacturing techniques, that may soon affect the products we carry in our pockets; consider this one announced by Dieceland Tech
(http://www.dtcproducts.com/home.html) as described in the Jan. 19 The Register (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/2/16232.html):

[Image - "Printed Phone" from Dieceland Tech -http://www.dtcproducts.com/home.html]

Brought to our attention by quite a few readers such as Kris Calidas, this is a disposable outgoing-only cell phone made of paper(!) that they plan to sell for $10, later this year. It's claimed to be about
the size of a triple-thick credit card, is made from recycled paper, and will sell at supermarket checkout counters and the like with 60-minutes of prepaid calling time. When you use up the time, you can
toss the phone, or add time through your credit card.

Now, I am "healthily skeptical" about this, but reader Jeff Brielmaier pointed me to an article in the Feb. 6 TechWeb that claims that inventor Randi Altschul has been working towards this since 1996, and
has 22 patents protecting the technology (http://www.techweb.com/printableArticle?doc_id=TWB20010205S0027).
Given that Dieceland says they have orders for 100-million of these phones, and they expect to produce 300-million of them in the U.S. this year for sale in everything from grocery and liquor stores to clothing
boutiques, we all may be convinced (one way or the other) in the not too distant future. And, if this technology does prove viable, even more interesting things may follow, such as a $20 paper laptop "Web
access device," next year...

Of course, none of these products, or their underlying manufacturing technologies, may hit the market at the price points or in the time frames claimed. But even if they're more expensive, and late, these
announcements do warn us that change may be in the air. And these changes could change the face of the electronic "cool things" that we're learning to love.

Again, don't blink!

This is an excerpt from the "Rapidly Changing Face of Computing, " a free weekly multimedia technology journal written by Jeffrey R. Harrow, Principal Member of Technical Staff for the Corporate Strategy group at Compaq. A more extensive version of this discussion, as well as others around the innovations and trends of contemporary computing and the technologies that drive them, are available at http://www.compaq.com/rcfoc . Jeff's opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Compaq. The RCFoC is a service of, and Copyright 2000, Compaq Computer Corp."