Coolest Gadgets

Trees around the world and environmentalists will rejoice with Xerox’s latest news announcement - they have successfully developed a way to make prints that have a one-day expiry date. This means the paper it is printed on can be used over and over again. Although the technology might be in its primitive state, think about the implications of such a quantum leap when it is perfected. Most of us often take a glance at printed material before filing it away somewhere, only to forget about it a few days later. This could spur a whole new generation of office workers who practice the Just-In-Time policy, printing what people need at that very moment and forgetting about it. Recipients of the printout could always scan the printed copy and let the paper “reset” itself the next day.

This revolutionary printing technology was developed by both Xerox and Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and it is hoped that it will replace printed pages that are used for just a short while only. Xerox estimates that 40% of the printed pages in office were used for just a single viewing before being discarded. Patents have already been filed for what is called the “erasable paper”.

Imagine that - having a paper that actually fades within a day. Digital documentation will take a whole new face as everyone in the office will be required to scan in a freshly printed document and leave it aside to be recycled the next day. Paper shredder sales will plummet as sensitive data on these erasable papers cannot be retained for more than a day, the world will be a much greener place, and our grandchildren won’t have to go to a museum to find out what an actual tree looks like.

Source: Xerox