I don't come from a tattooing family. I'm pretty sure that none of my family has or has ever had a tattoo; not even the WWII veterans, as far as I can recall. It's just not something we do.
Nevertheless I have to say that this is a pretty cool idea. Apparently it uses e-ink similar to what you find in a Kindle. One of the reasons to avoid tattoos is that you're stuck with it forever; if it seems like a bad idea in ten years, nevertheless, there it is (barring expensive and painful surgery). This tattoo, though, you can turn off whenever you want; or you can swap it out for something else.
My Dad had an army tattoo that was unrecognisable by 1960. Nobody could tell what the hell it was.
ReplyDeleteMy 4th son, from Romania, got a tatoo even before he joined the marines. And three more after that. Now he's in Tromso Norway, where they don't go in for that so much, so maybe we've seen the end of it. But you are right, it is the permanence that gets me. Remember the Norman Rockwell painting of the sailor with the girls' name tattoos who had to keep getting them crossed out?
One commenter in the article mentioned the retail potential of being a "walking billboard" and the ability to "reset to blank" when you want to do something for yourself.... Even if the tech isn't there yet, the possibilities boggle the mind.
ReplyDeleteWilliam sends.
(Is there an app for that?...)
It appears that this was an April Fool's day joke from a while ago. A neat idea, but I have to agree with the commenter who asked about the difference between committing to a regular tattoo and having something surgically implanted under your skin. Either way there is some kind of committment to do something to your body.
ReplyDeleteMy Pop had a couple tats on his arms. My favorite was the panther head on his upper bicep. MH has a couple as do I, unsurprisingly.
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the retail potential of being a "walking billboard"
ReplyDeleteHow shameless. Would you continue to denigrate the homeless in this way by giving them money for doing useful, easy stuff?
On the other hand, the stripper costume possibilities are interesting....
Eric Hines
It appears that this was an April Fool's day joke...
ReplyDeleteI only expect to run into those on April Fool's Day. It's a really great idea, though, even if it doesn't really exist yet. When someone can do it, I suspect it'll be really popular.
For something truly tasteless along these lines, http://www.metafilter.com/67727/Silicon%2Dimplants%2Dfor%2Dyour%2DTattoo
ReplyDelete. . . which is just wrong in so many ways that keep occurring to me anew.
". . . which is just wrong in so many ways that keep occurring to me anew."
ReplyDelete*puts fingers on keyboard....pauses*
Umm
*pauses again*
Ummm...words (for polite company) fail me.
I wish the mental images would, too, now. Please?
Geeeez, T99, you coulda at least waited until Happy Hour to post that link.
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T99 - I sent it to the tattooed son as a warning of how crazy this can get.
ReplyDeleteI caught the April 1 angle also, but:
ReplyDelete1)Technology really isn't that far off something like this
and
2) High profile people renting advert space on their bodies was just too cool to pass up. (Picture football players and race drivers with little cheekbone billboards...)
William sends.