The September issue of the US magazine will incorporate a built-in battery to power an electronic display, welcoming readers to the 21st century, Esquire said.

It will flash the words ‘The 21st Century Begins Now’, however, the battery will run out after 90 days.

Around 100,000 of the 720,000 magazines will feature the front cover, which will be hand finished.

The cost of the product is predicted to be far higher than the average magazine, although this won’t be passed on to readers.

Car manufacturer Ford has taken an advert on the inside cover, helping to absorb the cost of producing the special edition.

In an interview with the New York Times, Esquire‘s editor-in-chief David Granger said: “Magazines have basically looked the same for 150 years. We are trying to combine a 21st-century technology with a 19th-century manufacturing process.”

Esquire’s cover was produced in partnership with US e-paper specialist E Ink, which has worked with Amazon on its e-reader Kindle.

The magazine also had to hire an engineer in China to develop a battery that can be used in a magazine.

A company in China makes the batteries and display case. Once produced, the batteries are shipped to Mexico and inserted by hand. The magazines are then transported to a distributor in Kentucky – via refrigerated trucks in order to save battery life.

It is as yet unclear whether any of the UK versions of the magazine will feature the cover.

The special edition is being produced to celebrate the magazine’s 75th anniversary.

Read the original article at www.printweek.com.

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