About Us

In 1997, I read about a new technology called E-ink. The more I read the more I became a fan of e-ink and its promise of electronic paper: paper-thin electronic displays that only need power when you are changing the information on the "screen", flexible enough to roll up and as comfortable to read on as regular old paper.

 Imagine one sheet of "paper" that can hold not only the entire dictionary but the encyclopedia too AND your whole fiction and non-fiction collection. For an avid reader like me that was a pretty cool idea. But, it does not stop there - store shelf labels and signs, nametags, credit cards that display how much money you have left, all of those large signs at gas stations etc that you need to replace the plastic letters on. Believe me if you have ever had to change those letters in the rain you understand how nice it would be to change it from the inside. Sure, you could get a big led/LCD sign for it but they use power all the time. Once you change an e-ink sign, it powers off until you need to change it again.

 Fast-forward to 2009 and its actually happening. E-ink based eReaders are here, e-ink/electronic paper shelf labels are in use around the world (although mostly in Europe) and large area signs are slowly gaining a foothold. However, I did not have an ereader and had only downloaded an eBook or two as a test. I had sketched out a hundred designs for e-ink products, attempting even to get one made with the help of a design company in Philadelphia, who actually put me in touch with one of the original creators of e-ink J.D. Albert. E-ink's #1 fan and I hadn’t bought a Kindle or a Sony Reader! They just weren't quite right for me. So I took a look around and discovered there were many designs on the horizon for some new great "2nd" generation devices.

That's when I decided that I didn't just want to own one but I wanted to sell them too. I wanted people to see that not only are there alternatives to the "big boys" but that they are in many ways BETTER.

 I also knew that one of the major obstacles was getting them into people's hands. Unfortunately I found out it takes ALLOT to get even a small kiosk at a mall off the ground. For now, we will be focusing on our on-line sales, building our catalog and doing some showcases in the Portland area to let people "kick the tires". We will open some retail locations in the future.

 Of course, you need stuff to read as well. Soon eBooks will be available in our store as well. All the current bestsellers in fiction and non-fiction of course and possibly even some free classics.

 I've joked for years with family and friends about "just opening a book store someday” and suddenly here we are, maybe not quite how I thought about it.

 Gadgets and Books, my two favorite things.

 Welcome.

 -Charlie Dulin