Entertainment Weekly ad with a video-screen glued to the pages

The current ish of Entertainment Weekly has a tiny video screen embedded in a two-page CBS ad that auto-plays when you turn the page. The screen is controlled by a slim PCB sandwiched between the pages. As Wired's John C Abell says, "The audio quality is equally good (extremely poor video shot by this reporter notwithstanding), but beware: There are no volume controls, and in a quiet environment, it's quite loud. This is surely a intentional design feature, aimed at getting the attention of people nearby."

I wonder if the video screen is worth more than the newsstand price of the magazine, and if so, what makers could do with this subsidized video hardware?

CBS Embeds a Video Playing Ad in a Print Magazine

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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teufelsdroch

HOOOOOLY COW this is amazing. I didn’t think it would be possible until OLED’s worked. I am blown away, so much so that I just assumed this was more internet BS–far as I can tell, the company Americhip is legit.
Anonymous

Has anyone been able to get one of these. My boss is wanting one, and I am trying to find one in the LA area. Any ideas?
Anonymous

IT IS AWESOME.
if youre in advertising that is; it opens perspectives that lead to creativity. This was only a shitty use of the nifty gadget. It could get more attention by better creatives. ;)
Be on the lookout, i reckon it is promising!
Mazoola

I wonder if the video screen is worth more than the newsstand price of the magazine, and if so, what makers could do with this subsidized video hardware?

Unfortunately, according to the article’s fine print, the [literally] embedded video is only being included in a subset of subscriber copies destined for L.A. and N.Y.
mmchicago

So, do I have to rip this out of my issue before I recycle it? I wonder if they include any info regarding disposal on the print part of the ad.

I hope this kind of ad doesn’t become commonplace.
bearchild

Think these little screens can be salvaged and used for something other than pissing off people on the train?
misterfricative

@ Brainspore #25 — Except that this is so fracking annoying, that instead of saving print media, this could well be the last nail in its coffin.
webmonkees

This ad-upon-ad intersection is getting a bit annoying. And dangerous..
I went to a gas station that had video screens on every pump, each blaring out dissonant commercials for tv shows. A gas pump? Slightly distracting, at a time when a person should be focused on the task at hand. (One of the few still entrusted to the general public, for now)

I’m conflicted; if I go out to the store and pick up a copy to get hold of the tech, then they’ll gauge it as a success..

Similar devices (little blaring video screens running ads) have been showing up in retail stores, too. Those need to be repurposed and reinstalled. Zap the commercial, substitute a informative video on subliminals.

For now, I just bump one of the connectors so it doesn’t work. That’s at least a few hours of peace and quiet for all within earshot of the thing..70% of clerks won’t bother to fix it if it doesn’t involve the cash register.

The more in-field breakdowns they have, the less success they can gauge in the program. Just saying.
Takuan

..now what was it again…the National Lampoon…his phone rings (the kind that sits on a table and has a cord – ask your grandmother).. he answers and a sexy voice dirty talks him into unscrewing the mouthpiece (ask your grandmother), exposing some lips a la Sticky Fingers (grandmother), urges him into a Ma Bell blow job and then suddenly finds shackles locking around his balls and another voice bringing up the overdue phone bill. This video tech will soon be about porn and interactive porn at that. With thorns.
Anonymous

hypothetically if this kind of bullshit catches on can someone find a way to get the screens out, chain them together and make a video wall?
Dave Faris

Before you run out and get a copy …

“The video-enhancement will appear in the September issue of Entertainment Weekly, but only in what sounds like a relatively small subset of the circulation: The promo itself will be in every copy, but the video portion only in some subscriptions delivered to New York and Los Angeles. It was released Tuesday to media outlets.”
creesto

So where are the posts by hacker/makers? I wanna know if its possible to repurpose pieces like this: has no one taken one apart? Can it not be reused/rerecorded? I can imagine some potentially compelling multimedia art using scads of these things
Anonymous

As a related aside, my E-Paper copy of Esquire (October 2008) has recently stopped blinking, changing, serving as the ultimate coffee-table conversation piece. :(
Anonymous

And what do they put in that little screen? Something you could show only with motion? No, it’s talking heads, people wandering into the frame and just standing there. It’s like a TV chat show squeezed between the pages of a magazine.
bklynchris

HEEEEEEYYYYYYY! It’s Sheldon from BBT! I love him! The only show I watch on free TV anymore. I always wonder if boingboing will cameo on the show somehow.

NOT one “boingboing’s” journalists, but the SUM of their parts…that being, boingboing.
Anonymous

Mine doesn’t work. Very disappointed!
Anonymous

Im waiting for a maker to come up with a credit card thin, portable NES system with one of these pcb screens…. that would be a-w-e-s-o-m-e!!!
Anonymous

Can be reused. I figured out the Password. Its 123 plug in useb and right after the warning screen and Immediately when the battery logo comes on pres 123 w/button on page.. Now to figure out the video format???? Yaayyy
muteboy

It looks like one of those things that plays a tune or sound sample when you open a greetings card. A switch, a chip and a slim battery.
mrfoo

If I were the engineer assigned to work on this, it’d totally be worth losing my job and probably never working again to switch the ROM at the last possible moment for the “Quietus” advert from Children of Men and hoping nobody noticed before they sent the magazines out. You could probably dine out on that story for the rest of your life.
Anonymous

they mentioned this on bloomberg today, think they said the chip thingy cost $12 or $20 each (can’t recall wasn’t paying close attn).. 2.1mil was the cost they estimated.
Anonymous

I wouldn’t worry about E.W. losing money over this. Pepsi is one of the advertizers in the deal, and they have shown a willingness to drop alot of cash down the fishing well (i.e. bunches of Super Bowl ads at $6 million per minute). These embedded video ads have been promised for years, and since this one is the first off the pad, it is sure to create a ton of buzz, (that noise you hear is from all of us trogs around the world who have never opened a copy of Entertainment Weekly, who don’t like Pepsi, who abhore most broadcast television, and who are now happily spreading the virus). With most of the developed world taking notice, you can be sure Pepsi, CBS, et.al. will be more than happy to cover the costs.
Anonymous

Re: #28

So basically video that’s easy to compress.
Actually makes sense.

I guess the future is a bit closer to being evenly distributed.
Steaming Pile

FTFA: “The video-enhancement will appear in the September issue of Entertainment Weekly, but only in what sounds like a relatively small subset of the circulation: The promo itself will be in every copy, but the video portion only in some subscriptions delivered to New York and Los Angeles. It was released Tuesday to media outlets.”

So sorry if you live in one of those cities of lesser importance than the Big Apple or La La Land. No hacktastic video player for you!
Hellblazer

Can you even get Entertainment Weekly on the newsstaand anymore? I can’t remember the last time I saw one on the shelf in the local Publix or Target, or even in a B&N.

I was over at a friends’ place a couple weeks ago and saw the Iron Man issue on his coffee table; I was amazed at how slim it was. It was barely more than a pamphlet, clocking in at around sixty or seventy flimsy, cheap-feeling pages. I picked up, glanced through it, didn’t find anything I hadn’t already seen on the internets, said “wow, print really =is= dead”, and tossed it back down.
ArghMonkey

DIYers are gonna love this …
Itsumishi

Hmm, where can I possibly find information that comes in text based, image based and video based formats in one spot?

I can’t possibly think of anywhere this would be achievable!

I know I’ll spend absurd amounts of money on a tiny little screen and shove it into a magazine, that will be a very efficient way of spending my advertising money.

–

Well actually it might be this once. Every time after this it’s impact will be more ‘meh’ less ‘whoa’ and all it will be is an expensive and stupid exercise. I can’t see this catching on.
Anonymous

“My name is Judge.”
Rob

@Webmonkees:

I agree that they need to be repurposed, but I don’t think you have the right tack.

Replace it with porn. They’ll remove them very quickly after that.
13tales

Cool, but unbelievably wasteful. This is exactly the kind of disposeable approach to unrecyclable electronics that we DON’T need >:(
Anonymous

Well, I get that pub. I work in print, so I’m looking forward to seeing it, but I wonder what will happen to the screen when the mail carrier folds the mag to shove it through the mail slot?
Anonymous

I got one of these in the mail. It doesn’t work. No sound no video. Not sure what the problem is, but I’m going to open it up and see.
chetoverton

Agreed, obscenely wasteful. Also, annoying as hell. Let’s hope this doesn’t catch on.
Anonymous

get it and hack the screen for automobile purpose… great! My first stop home depot for a box cutter then barns and noble here I come…lol
Telecustard

Is this obscenely wasteful, or is it that other devices that use LCD screens are obscenely overpriced?
Stefan Jones

Recycle, hell! As others have noted, this sucker should be repurposed.
tw15

If they could get the price right, then it might be useful in school books or instruction manuals. It might make building an Ikea wardrobe easier to do.
Brainspore

So that’s how they are planning to save print media… by putting a bunch of video in it!