A book printed in invisible Ink?

[thwhtGuardian]

I just finished reading this article about an hour ago and I still find myself wondering, "Who thought this was a good idea?"

I mean, as a technical achievement sure mass produced invisible ink is a cool idea, but for printing novels? I'm the kind of guy who likes to reread books multiple times, and on top of that sometimes I go on book buying binges and buy myself half a years worth of reading material in one go so this idea certainly isn't very appealing to me. What about you guys?

I could think of some cool gimmicks using invisible ink, like a mystery novel where key sections disappear thus erasing possible clues, but a whole novel just seems kind of wasteful.

[Inkthinker]

Permanently blank? That just seems... stupid. About the only reason left for buying physical books is to keep them over time, and yet here they're suggesting a book that becomes essentially a big blank in just two months.

Presumably it's being shrink-wrapped to prevent the process starting early (they say it goes blank "two months after being exposed to sunlight and air") so you could buy it early and wait to open it, but once it's opened the clock starts ticking, I guess.

I could see it being an interesting gimmick for a book to be printed with ink that disappears and reappears with some application. God knows what though... heat or water would likely damage the book... glow-in-the-dark could be fun if you could be subtle enough to not make it obvious, I could see some neat applications with horror novels there. But a book that just goes entirely blank? No thanks.

-EDIT-

Went back and watched the video. This screams marketing smack.

[thwhtGuardian]

It is a pretty gimmicky idea, print can't be hurting that bad can it?

Is it all marketing smack? I didn't really look into it but the award they named sounded legit.

[Aleksa]

That is a pretty strange idea , honestly... But, on the other hand, i see what those guys were striving for - they wanted people to read the book fast. i guess it makes sense especially for those commercially attractive books like the twilight saga. They could divide the book on parts and sell each new part every 2 months. It would works since those kinds of books have lots of fans, who would be happy to read the book really fast. The next chaper thus would be awaited in anticipation and read in the same way

[Inkthinker]

Yeah, but if it's going to become a big blank paperweight a couple months later, I'd rather buy digital. Same price (or less), same release date, no bullshit about making what I paid for disappear.

Seriously, this concept strikes me as anathema to the only things that physical books really have going for them in a world that's increasingly leaning towards data: real books are a physical preservation media... I buy one for things I want to keep, not throw away.

[Aaron Kashtan]

It's a stupid gimmick, but it could be potentially interesting if used for artistic purposes.

William Gibson created a work of electronic literature that was supposed to erase itself irretrievably after it was read once. However, the effect was kind of ruined because people posted the text on the Internet. See here.