Major Technology Breakthrough!

                        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   

Announcing the new Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge-device (BOOK).  The 
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.  Just lift its cover!

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...

Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper 
(recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information.  
These 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 in half.  Experts are divided on the 
prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with 
more information simply use more pages.  This makes them thicker and harder 
to carry, and has drawn some criticism from the mobile computing crowd.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your 
brain.  A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet.  The BOOK may be 
taken up at any time and used by merely opening it.  The BOOK never crashes 
and never needs rebooting, though like other display devices it can become 
unusable if dropped overboard.  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 any selected 
information for instant retrieval.

An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the 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 BOOKmarks 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 
Stylus (PENCILS).

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

(by Alan S. Zaben?)

------------------- Thanks to a fwd from bregister@mail.utexas.edu (Sarah Jo)