Passage 12: Note Making and Summarizing | Class 11 English Grammar PDF Download

Read the following passage carefully:

1. This may seem like straight out of a Harry Potter book, but it happens to be true. The three thousand year old publishing medium – Paper, might soon get obsolete. Or, its use might get severely curtailed, with the arrival of electronic ink – a close cousin to the e-paper.
2. The functionality of the whole experiment lies in its simplicity. The new technology not only looks, feels and is portable like the conventional paper, but is also eco-friendly.
3. E-ink, a US based company is on the fast track of developing e-ink that looks just like grey paint, but inside there are hundreds and thousands of microcapsules, which change their colour from light to dark when exposed to an electronic field.
4. Since these microcapsules float free in an oil-based liquid – the “carrier medium”, they can be printed on just about any flat surface, convex, concave or even cloth material. Currently, e-ink is hawking this technology only to the likes of JC Penney, which has begun to use its simplified versions for a futuristic promotional campaign. Commercial application is still a bend away. The primitive version of the technology was developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre and was promptly christened Gyricon (from a Greek word standing for rotate + image). This was because the technology involved floating microspheres.
5. The success formula behind the cutting-edge technology lies in the reusable paper that can ‘typeset’ itself through a wireless system, enabling updation of contents throughout the day-almost like a web update.
6. The fundamentals are so simple, it is amazing how it eluded scientists for so long. In a nutshell, it combines the clarity, userfriendliness and affordability of the conventional paper, with the immediacy of the Web and can even be folded and kept in the briefcase for an easy lugging to the office.
7. “There is a strong demand to retain all the good properties of paper and yet couple it with electronic distribution”, says a senior scientist associated team on the company’s Web site. In other words, if one is to replace paper, the electronic alternative should also look like paper. This might even please the strong environmentalists’ lobby, who have always stood up in arms against the massive tree-felling by the paper industry. According to one conservative estimate, an average reader consumes nearly 740 pounds of paper pulp every year.
8. Another drawback with the paper industry is that the printed words are so static that they can neither be erased nor updated. The new technology creates a dynamic high resolution display over a thin and flexible medium and is expected to hit the market by 2003. It will perhaps herald an altogether new reading style with the paraphernalia of e-books and e-paper that can display volumes of information as easily as turning a page and permanent newspaper surfaces that update themselves daily via a wireless broadcast.
9. E-ink constitutes of millions of microcapsules having a transparent outer shell. Inside are tiny white pigment chips that float in a blue coloured dye. These white spheres carry a positive charge. The e-ink with millions of such microcapsules are placed between two electrodes. When the top electrode layer is negatively charged, it draws the positively charged white coloured pigment chips towards the top, reading surface, making them shine and stand out against the background of the blue dye. And, Loila! the letters and images become legible. A similar charge in the lower layer pulls the white pigments down, making them invisible to the eye. A combination of such white pigment chips on the surface make the words and images visible. These characters can easily be changed any time by altering with the charge on the electrode layers, which is manipulated through the wireless signals. The e-ink is already in use on display boards at several US supermarkets, airports, ATMs and offices.
10. The commercial advantages include its thinness, low weight and power efficiency (0.1 watts). The system is networkable through wireless and wired systems and is also mobile (if supported by wireless system). Thus, the displays can be controlled from one central location. Need a publisher or,a reader ask for anything more?

Q.1. Make notes on the contents of the passage above. Use a format you consider suitable. Use abbreviations where necessary. Also give a suitable title to the passage.

Title: E-ink & E-paper .
Notes:

1. Characteristics of E-ink
   (a) looks like grey paint
   (b) mns. micro caps.
   (c) oil-based liquid
   (d) printed on any surface.
   (i) flat
   (ii) convex
   (iii) concave
   (iv) cloth
2. E-paper – Qualities
   (a) reus’le – typset itself
   (b) updat’g contents – like web
   (c) clarity, userfr’dliness, affordability – convn’l paper
   (d) imm’cy of web
   (e) foldg. & lug’g
3. Advantages of E-paper
   (a) no tree fell’g – envt. lobby pleased
   (b) printed words stat. – no erasion no. updt’g
   (c) high display over thin & flex’le medium
4. Working of E-ink
   (a) white pigment chips inside micro caps — +ve charge
   (b) blue coloured dye
   (c) E-ink placed between 2 electrodes
   (d) – ve charged top elec, layer – pig’ts shine – letters image
   (e) – ve charged lower layer – pig’ts invisible
   (f) manipulation by wireless

Q.2. Make a summary of the passage.

Summary:
Electronic ink-a close cousin of the e-paper looks like grey paint. This oil based liquid has thousands of microcapsules as carrier medium. They can be printed on just about any flat surface, convex, concave or even cloth material. The E-paper is eco-friendly. The printed words are static that they can neither is erased nor updated. High resolution is displayed over a thin and flexible medium. The tiny white pigment chips carry a positive charge. The commercial advantages include its thinness, low weight and power efficiency. The system is manipulated by wireless.