Plastic Logic and what could be the ultimate thin client

February 9, 2009 By BobGourley

plastic_logic I’ve written a bit here about new display technologies that are so thin they are disruptive to our current way of work. The move to cloud computing and rapid advances in display technology is enabling this, and these are both trends we ahve all been watching for quite a while.

In October 2007 I wrote “Enterprise Requirements Come From Hollywood” where OLED (organic light emitting diode) TV’s were discussed. I mentioned the fact that once again Hollywood got it right first, with superthin displays in sci-fi and fantasy movies helping to drive user expectations and requirements. I’ve also written about thin clients, especially the game-changing infrastructure components for thin clients from Sun Microsystems. The servers supporting thin clients provide dramatic positive benefits for any IT enterprise.

And in January 2009 I wrote:

Flexible computers will arrive in production this year for early adopters and many CTOs will use them in labs to assess applicability for massive deployment in the coming years. These flexible computers are the ultimate thin clients. Backends/servers/architectures developed for the cloud perfectly suit ultra thin, flexible computing devices. For more on this hot topic, start at the site of the Flexible Display Center at ASU.

One company poised to take advantage of the technologies of flexible displays is Plastic Logic. They are a Silicon Valley startup producing a paper-pad-thin device that is designed for business reading. For now, their offerings are focused on the business user and information can get into the device either by users sending it to the device or by content providers.

The Plastic Logic Reader is officially still in development. It will enter the market later in 2009 via pilots and trials (I hope to get one) and then be commercially available in 2010. Complete features lists are not available but it supports a wide range of document types, including: PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, JPEG, PNG, TEXT, HTML, BMP, RTF, and ePub.

Users will hold this reader like they hold a piece of paper and read documents provided via wireless communications. The device weighs ounces not pounds, is thinner than a Macbook Air, and has a battery that lasts days vice hours. For more see this video of Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta from the Fall 2008 Demo conference:

My suggestion to any enterprise-class CTO is to check out their website and find ways to get their capability into your lab and into the hands of your users.

I’d also suggest thinking through how these devices can fit into the rest of your enterprise, and I’d suggest you (actually, I suggest all of us) start formulating our desires for enterprise capabilities on this device. For example, what encryption will be used? How will it do identity management? How will it to access control? How will it work with a Sun Ray environment?