Right now you are probably reading these words from a computer screen, but in the near future this way of reading will become obsolete. A major international corporation has recently released a new media that surpasses the computer screen in every performance test we have done so far. The new media – which is simply called “paper” – is extremely flat, almost weightless and exceptional flexible. Within the next couple of years paper will no doubt change the way we share and distribute thoughts, stories and ideas.

One of paper’s most interesting features is that texts can be printed directly on its surface. After printing you can organize it in piles (so called books). Reading from a book enables the user to read long texts without the need of electricity and without having the attention distracted by advertisements and gadget functions. Unlike old-fashioned computer-based texts the book is decorative, easy to comprehend, noiseless, capable of putting on a shelf, portable, and so cheap to produce that you don’t even need an insurance in case of theft! Books can even be read in bright light without the use of cords or batteries. Because of this you can easily bring the book on the bus or read while you are sitting on the toilet. Should you run out of toilet paper, a page in a book also has obvious advantages over the computer screen. Furthermore the book is constructed in such an intelligent way that it is not capable of showing moving images, thus giving you a fantastic opportunity to use your own imagination. The same thing applies to sound effects. By using the book you are getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to create voices, music and moods in the privacy of your own mind.

As you probably understand the book is a fast media, which can be opened and used instantly without having to push buttons. The big question is therefore: Are humans ready to utilize the full potential of such a fast and easy-to-use media? Will the mind lose its grip when confronted with a media that has no operating system, no viruses, no spam, no coding-facilities, no downtime and no software? Many experts have expressed concern that the book will speed up the way we work and thereby lead to stress and other social diseases. On the other hand publishers are expecting a lot from this new groundbreaking media. “Once a text is issued in a book, making changes to the text will be an expensive affair,” an enthusiastic editor declares. “Therefore it is necessary to be thorough and certain before issuing a text. This, I expect, will automatically result in a huge increase in the quality of published material.”

Because of low cost books are predicted to be part of most average households all over the world within weeks. Every social layer in any population will be able to afford this new flexible media that strengthens imagination and saves both money and energy. Personally I hope – in the future - to be able to publish some of my own work on paper. Can a mortal writer like myself achieve anything greater than having a text released via a non-electronic media that offers the user such a great degree of freedom?