--- title: "You Can Sketch on This E Ink Blackboard With Almost No Lag" description: "The company that produces Amazon Kindle screens just showed off new tech that allows you to sketch on a black E Ink display with a stylus." date: "2018-12-01" modified: "2018-12-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sketch-e-ink-blackboard-no-lag" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "Amazon" - "e ink" - "kindle" - "the digest" --- # You Can Sketch on This E Ink Blackboard With Almost No Lag ![The company that produces Amazon Kindle screens just showed off new tech that allows you to sketch on a large black E Ink display.]() *\Image: E Ink Corporation\* ## Digital Etch A Sketch You might be familiar with the technology from reading a book on a Kindle. But so far, the technology behind the screen called E Ink or p-paper has proven useful mostly for displaying information. Startup E Ink — the company that produces those Kindle displays — wants to change that. In a [new video](), the company showed off new tech it's calling JustWrite that allows you to sketch on a large E Ink display with virtually no lag. ## E Doodle Interestingly enough, most of the hardware that drives the technology is in the stylus itself. That means the screen portion only requires minimal amounts of power to refresh or erase, as *The Verge* [reports](). The details are sparse but the technology behind it seems far more basic than what's inside Apple's [new Pencil]() and iPad screens. But sometimes less is more, and considering the current pricing of Amazon Kindle e-readers, this should be a lot more affordable to the consumer than the Apple Pencil and iPad— and have a much better battery life. ## Colorful Future For now, you'll have to settle for black and white, though. For conventional E Ink displays with no writing functionality that might change as soon as next year. The company has announced it will be shipping [colored E Ink screens]() in the second quarter of 2019. E Ink has yet to reveal any shipping dates for any JustWrite-enabled displays. But having what essentially amounts to a large digital Etch A Sketch could prove to be extremely useful to students, and visual artists. **READ MORE:** [E Ink display lets you write on it as if it were paper]() \[Engadget\] ***More on e ink displays: [Road Signs In Australia Use the Same Kind of Screen as a Kindle]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()