It’s 2020, and it’s sunny outside. In fact, it’s so bright in your kitchen that you have to squint to see your grapefruit. You flip on your e-reader and the most recent e-issue of IEEE Spectrum pops up on-screen, the colors and text sharp and brilliant in the sunlight. There’s e-mail to answer, but you want to make the early commuter bus, so you roll up your e-reader and stuff it in your jacket pocket.

On the bus, you switch the device to physically rigid mode and half the screen becomes a large keyboard. You bang out a few messages, then watch a short video. All the while the unit is charging its battery through a built-in organic solar cell.

That’s my vision of the future of periodical literature—or rather, the future of periodical delivery. It combines the orderly, portable, full-color format of today’s print publications with the flexibility, timeliness, and multimedia capabilities of online magazines. And the only component still lacking is a screen that’s easy on the eyes in all sorts of lighting conditions, displays full-motion and full-color images, is rollable and durable, and uses precious little power.

Like the jet pack, it always seems to be a decade away. So why should you believe me now when I tell you that the do-all e-reader will be available in a decade? Read on.