If you haven't seen it, check out Esquire magazine's 75th anniversary issue now on newsstands -- the cover features the first (that we know of) mass-market application of "e-ink." Which is another way of saying, It's got a thin digital screen sandwiched into the cover paper.

Frankly, it's not as neato as I'd hoped (though to be fair, the technology is pretty extraordinary). It's just that, graphically, the digital display just flashes a giant cover blurb -- I was wanting something more animated, something more than just flashing text. I suppose I'm spoiled by all the nifty things my computer screen can display.

Esquire has the backstory here and a video that shows the image in action. And Make magazine takes the thing apart tells whether you can hack the display.

Photo below by Nicholas Nawroth, one of the bloggers posting about the cover.



And here's the version being mailed to subscribers; the e-ink cover is just available in bookstores.