The Masochist's Institute of Technologyanecdotes of an ambitious MIT student

Hey all! It’s been a while since my last post, but I can assure you that can be traced to my amazing 19th birthday (which, of course, will get a blog post of its own once I upload all my photos). Today, I’d like to take a little deviation from my personal life and talk about some really interesting technology that I only recently heard about:

ZINK (short for “Zero Ink”) features CMYK dyes held in the form of crystals on a specialized sheet of paper. When you print anything on ZINK paper, the heat causes the several million crystals to melt accordingly. This in turn makes the dyes leak out and produce a wide spectrum of colours. This means that ZINK-enabled printers don’t need any sort of ink at all! This saves on costs and is also very eco-friendly.

Because the technology is new, not many products that use ZINK have been produced. However, three companies have jumped on board early to bring you the most obvious usage of the ZINK technology – instant-print cameras, a la old-school Polaroids!

And obviously, Polaroid would be the first investor to hop on board! After getting rid of their instant film product line, they announced their new PoGo camera and printer. The former is a digital camera and instant printer in one, while the latter lacks the camera part. The unit comes in red and black, and is very aesthetically sleek. I’ve heard that there are occasional issues with printing quality, such as “streaks” on the image, but for the most part reviews have been positive. The camera only prints 2×3-inch images, which may seem small to some people but is perfect for people like me who journal and wish to have instant images. Did I also mention that the backs of ZINK paper are sticky, so you could effectively turn your image into decorations, badges, pins, or anything else of the sort?

The above image features the Dell Wasabi printer, which is pocket-sized and comes in translucent blue, pink, and black. Most of these printers are able to print via Bluetooth (from cell phone or computer) or PicBridge (connected to phone). I actually have my eyes on this one – it looks extremely aesthetically pleasing, and from what I’ve heard, it prints better than the Polaroid PoGo. The ZINK paper it uses is the same, so you still get sticky-back, 2×3-inch prints.

From Japanese toy creator Takara Tomy comes the Tomy Xiao camera. Unlike the Polaroid, which gracefully melds the camera and printer aspect together without making the unit clunky or large, Tomy’s version is literally a digicam on top, attached to an instant printer on bottom. Not exactly my cup of tea, but it does seem easy-to-use and targeted towards the younger population. For a nation that loves photo booths (“purikura“), this camera definitely seems appropriately marketed.

The awesome things about these cameras/printers:

• Portability - they’re small enough to fit in a purse or pocket!
• Compatibility - they will work with most cameras and computers.
• ZINK technology – no ink, no smudging, no clunky printers!
• Sticky back - perfect for scrapbooking, journaling, decorating…
• Size of prints – many people are complaining about the 2×3 size, but I feel as if that’s the perfect size for a portable printer. Any large (ex. 4×6) and the printer itself would have to be larger, thus reducing its portability and increasing price of the ZINK paper.

The things that definitely need improvement:

• Price of ZINK paper – the cameras themselves are not that expensive, but the ZINK paper definitely is! Currently, they run about 50 cents a photo. This is cheaper than the original price ($1.00) but it’s still rather expensive. This is probably due to the fact that it’s a new technology. Hopefully someday in the future it will get better.
• No SD card slot - it would make things so much easier if you could just slip in a memory card to the printer and print directly, in case you forgot your camera/PC (or your connection failed) and still want to print.

Although I am rather smitten with these new camera-printers (especially the Wasabi), I think I’ll have to hold out on buying one anytime soon. I’m waiting for the technology to develop further and get cheaper, which I definitely think it will. I’ve been fantasizing about a product like this for years, but it wasn’t until recently that it was developed. Here’s to the further  development and amelioration of the ZINK technology!