Bam! Pif! Ka-pow!

Yes, I know it sounds like a Thai dish, but it's actually the sounds of comic book joy - and those sounds have been coming from the Tokyo International Book Fair over the weekend. The whole e-book phenomena is slowly growing in acceptance, with

Yes, I know it sounds like a Thai dish, but it's actually the sounds of comic book joy - and those sounds have been coming from the Tokyo International Book Fair over the weekend. The whole e-book phenomena is slowly growing in acceptance, with ever-improving screen clarity meaning that the digital screen becomes more and more like the physical page every day. But that's just for text - illustrations are a little harder to re-produce, meaning that comics, for instance, simply don't translate into the e-world.

But back to the Bif! and Ka-plooie! At the recent Book Fair a new e-book prototype developed specifically for comic books by Toshiba, NTT Data, and E-Book Initiative Japan was on show. It features two LCD panels attached to one another like pages in a book, each one 7.7in and with a resolution of 150 pixels per inch. Of course, the prototype is heavy and has very poor battery life, but those problems are expected to be ironed out in two years, when the final version should weigh in at about 400 grams and have a battery life of up to six hours.

The new e-book is firmly targeted at the Asian comic market, which is far more widespread than in the west. Comic books there tend to be a lot more adult in content, with scantily clad schoolgirls and all manner of demon seductresses. Sounds terrible. Really…
Toshiba
NTT Data