New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!

Subject: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 May 07 - 02:27 AM

Hello All!

Announcing a New Major Technological Breakthrough!

Introducing... a new Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge device, trade named: BOOK

BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use, even a child can operate it. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere -- even sitting in an armchair by the fire -- yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc. Here's how it works:

BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. The pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder, which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence.

Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs. Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now, BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. BOOK may be taken up at any time and used merely by opening it.

Unlike other display devices, BOOK never crashes or requires rebooting, and it can even be dropped on the floor or stepped on without damage. However, it can become unusable if immersed in water for a significant period of time. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of selected information for instant retrieval.

An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session -- even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOKmarkers can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK.

You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (PENCILS).

Portable, durable, and affordable, BOOK is being hailed as a precursor of a new entertainment wave. Also, BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform and investors are reportedly flocking. Look for a flood of new titles soon!


... Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Barry Finn
Date: 17 May 07 - 02:35 AM

Finally, thank goodness

Barry

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 17 May 07 - 02:46 AM

I am jumping on the bandwagon, and have a raft of new accessories to support this wondrous new invention, such as BOOKshelves and BOOKcases (glass-fronted or plain)to display them and BOOKholders for bath- or bedtime.

Order now to avoid disappointment.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 17 May 07 - 03:25 AM

EEE! Aren't folk clever.
I must get one...
Do they do them in orange?
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 07 - 03:43 AM

The bad news is that Microsoft has taken out a patent on it.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 May 07 - 08:39 AM

Another idea that looks good on paper but is unlikely to see widespread application among members of the general population.

Among other difficulties, an immediately apparent limitation is found at:

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain.

The fundamental requirement for the accessory BRAIN (Basic Receptive And Interpretive Network) represents a significant limitation on the extent to which the BOOK is likely to be widely adopted. Some of the more rudimentary forms of BRAIN devices are so limited in capability and flexibility as to be incapable of processing much, if any, of the data easily transmitted via the optical path necessary to BOOK use, and respond almost exclusively to strong sonic input. Optical input is unresponsive to anything that does not flash, twitch, or jump about. (The resemblance to the optical input capabilities of common Rana catesbeiana or Rana pipiens in which optical input rapidly approaches null values in the absence of motion is notable.)

Full assessment of the percentage of potential BOOK users suffering from this incapacity has not been made. Many of them can be identified by the nearly ubiquitous presence of "ear buds" allowing constant immersion in sonic input, to the exclusion of all other BRAIN functions. A sub-category of limited-BRAIN users may be seen with accessory devices called cell-phones more or less constantly attached. Unfortunately a full analysis of the cell phone is beyond the scope of this comment.

An alternative limitation common in the BRAIN devices accessible to large numbers of potential BOOK users appears to be related to a "saturation effect" where having read ONE BOOK they become unable to process the contents of any other BOOK. It is not fully known whether the breakdown in this case is due to an overload and burnout of the Receptive front-end of the BRAIN, making other input impossible, or whether it's a blown Interpretive processor that makes recognition and interpretation of anything they imagine to be "not in the original BOOK" impossible. Many of those subject to this limitation can be detected by the habit of speaking loudly, and often in archaic dialects or even in the manner of "tongues."

It should be noted that there is no single BOOK that has this effect, although most of those most strongly affected seem to favor BOOKs of a fairly consistent kind.

A variant of the latter defect occurs with those who retain only a single idea¹ from one book, and are incapable of processing anything other than that one concept. In extreme form, this may be called the phelpus deviatus² corruption of BRAIN networking, but less severe cases are called "pornographers" or "geniuses³" depending on the inclination of the speaker.

¹ Defective conginition and interpretation relative to the first idea is common, and inability to admit or process any new information generally makes the original error immutable.

² Believed to be infectious and transmissible within some deviant members of the population.

³ A term used mostly, although not exclusively, by art critics. Sometimes appears as a self-descriptive term.

Until the problem of ancillary equipment requirements can be solved, and significant portions of the population can be equipped with functional BRAINs, I'm afraid the prospects for popularising the use of the BOOK remain somewhat bleak, although the benefits that appear obvious do certainly merit continued study of the concept.

John

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 May 07 - 09:13 AM

"Another idea that looks good on paper"


ROFL..... vellum not surprised...

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Peace
Date: 17 May 07 - 09:26 AM

Good idea for sci-fi, Foolestroupe, but it'll never sell.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 May 07 - 12:08 PM

Another feature not often noted is the distinctive scent of new Book. Unlike any other mechanical invention, the aroma is pleasing and evocative of far away places, people and events.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 May 07 - 12:13 PM

So who is gonna be the first to be BOOKed?

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 May 07 - 01:07 PM

Katlaughing, I think you take that honor.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Donuel
Date: 17 May 07 - 01:11 PM

The Pope has a list of good BOOK and bad BOOK. The bad ones are to be burned.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Bill D
Date: 17 May 07 - 03:02 PM

I was reading "Farenheit 451", but suddenly........

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 May 07 - 03:13 PM

Speaking of the pope- right now PBS is running a series on the Inquisition. I can only handle a little of it at a time...

There is nothing in the world more frightening to me than people in power convinced they are right.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Bill D
Date: 17 May 07 - 04:14 PM

Yeah, Ebbie! Thank goodness THAT doesn't happen in this enlightened age!

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 May 07 - 08:08 PM

That likelihood doesn't sound as farfetched to me as it would have at one time.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 May 07 - 08:23 PM

Digression-
Echoes of the Inquisition; people who know they are right-
A news report today tells of some 30 Iraqi women who were stoned to death in the first three months of this year for violating their culture's interpretation of Islamic law.

Sorry, Foolestroupe, but that has been in my head all day, and the drift of this thread prompted me to add it here.

Subject: RE: New Major Technological Breakthrough!!!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 May 07 - 11:33 PM

Beards for sale! Beards for sale!