The B.O.O.K.

[mazin]

The B.O.O.K. - A Low-Tech Breakthrough

Announcing the new Built-in Orderly Organised Knowledge device (B.O.O.K.). It's a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use, even a child can operate it.

Just lift its cover. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disk.

Here's how it works: Each B.O.O.K. is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper, each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked in with a custom-fit device called a "binder" that keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. By using both sides of each sheet, manufacturers are able to cut costs in half. Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The B.O.O.K. may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The browse feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward of backwards as you wish. Most come with an index feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.

An optical "B.O.O.K.-mark" accessory allows you to open the B.O.O.K. to the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if the book has been closed. B.O.O.K.-marks fit universal design standards; thus a single BOOK-mark can be used in B.O.O.K.s by various manufacturers.

Portable, durable and affordable, the B.O.O.K. is the entertainment wave of the future, and many new titles are expected soon, due to the surge in popularity of its programming tool, the Portable Erasable-Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (referred to by the acronym P.E.N.C.I.L.S. to those in the trade.)