Brief: Xerox Pitches Self-Erasing, Reusable Paper

Hey, where did that document go? Xerox has applied for a patent for a printing technology that creates images that last only a day. It sees a market for "Erasable Paper" for e-mails and documents that are printed for brief viewing and quickly discarded or recycled. This paper could be reused once the image fades--in 16 to 24 hours, in the current tests. It comes from a collaboration between Xerox and the Palo Alto Research Center. It's far from a commercial product, with Xerox working to perfect the ink and PARC working on a printer for the special paper. But the opportunity is there: Xerox estimates two of every five pages printed in an office are for one-day use.