I salute the Japanese. Technology is so advanced in Japan that today’s technology has already existed in the Asian country at least half a decade ago. Japan is well-known for its robotics, possessing more than fifty percent of the world’s industrial robots used for manufacturing. Undoubtedly, Japan is the world leader in 3G technology, with 3G penetration standing at an impressive 95 per cent and 84.3 percent of mobile phone users browsed mobile Internet from their mobile phones in 2009.
Besides robotics and mobile technology, the Japanese have also been harnessing technology to save our environment. The Eco-Products 2009 exhibition, which was held at Tokyo in December last year, showcased environmentally-friendly products developed by home-grown talents. One of the most fascinating products featured at the exhibition is Sanwa Newtec’s Prepeat.
Touted as “an inkless and tonerless rewriteable printer”, the Prepeat is an extraordinary printer that doesn’t rely on ink or toner cartridges and paper at all. Feed it with a special paper which is made from plastic, and the paper can be used up to 1,000 times to erase and re-print documents If this becomes commercialized to the entire world, then it could potentially save the environment and people need not to purchase ink or toner cartridges anymore.
Not surprisingly, the Prepeat printer doesn’t come cheap. It cost $5,500, while each sheet of plastic paper will retail for $3.30. I believe ten years down the road, this amazing printing technology would not be new to all of us anymore. Inkless rewriteable printers would dominate offices by then.
Via Ubergizmo