• by Josh May , May 20, 2008

Not that politicians need another medium or device through which to saturate your already campaign-weary brain, but here it comes. With the advent of digital paper, they - not to mention advertisers and everyone else vying for your attention - will be able to plaster a digital message any place they can put a sticker or a piece of paper.

Mutable, disposable and, in the not-too-distant future, affordable, it's a revolutionary form of one of the world's oldest forms of media. The next iteration in computing is all about organics. Forget silicon and copper; think polymers and organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), the technology that's going to make your flat-screen plasma or LCD TV obsolete in the next couple years. This allows for the creation of flat, foldable and rollable screens. Artist Miguel Mora has employed these technologies to create paper objects with digital exteriors, like a paper alarm clock. "Objects will wear technology instead of carrying it inside," he explains on his Web site. "The technology will become their skin."

It won't be long before we disprove the age-old notion that what makes something special is what's on the inside - what will really matter is what's on the outside.