I think e-paper like this has definite uses for researchers or anyone else who needs to read, and more importantly add notes to printed text. My desk at university, and to be honest half of my house, is covered in printed academic papers and other research material. Theoretically I could read all of these on my laptop or PC but it's just so much easier to read from paper, and a break from staring at a glaring computer screen. Also I tend to highlight lots of text and add a tone of scribbled notes on each sheet which I find is easier and faster than annotating on screen.

If I could have say 3 A4 sheets of this e-paper I would be able to just a single sheet of 'paper' in each of my working locations. This would mean access to limitless pages of research, on a screen that presumably will be very similar to reading it on paper, and the ability to highlight and add notes stored electronically. The fact it's flexible I hope means it will be pretty durable and I'll be able to carry it about with me, shove it in a bag, whatever.

But really whatever happens with this technology think of the amount of paper it will save, and so trees, and so the world...everyone's a winner, except paper companies.

I presumed the grandparent meant the German high-speed rail network when he said "the ICE". I did a bit of "inter-railing" over summer, travelling mainland Europe by train. Going from Brussels to Berlin we were booked on an ICE train which funnily enough had broken down! This led to a 5 hour coach trip to Aachen where there would be another trail. When we eventually got to Aachen station we ran onto an ICE train which was about to leave without checking if we actually had valid tickets. As Brits we thought must have entered a first class luxury coach. The seats were out of this world. Large, comfy, with pillows built into the head rest and with a decent table in a genuinely pleasant environment. We took a seat and the coasted out of the station accelerating smoothly to high speed fairly quickly, being a geek I couldn't take my eye off the digital speed readout at the end of the carriage. Simply the most perfect example of rail engineering I have ever experienced.

Beats the British rail network hands down, our cattle-class trains can't even handle a bit of snow!