The short answer to that headline is $1,100 (£662). Sony's E Ink 13.3-inch Digital Paper display is not cheap, but pioneering technology rarely is – at first.

Sony's Digital Paper, which was revealed back in May 2013, will be released a year later this May 2014. But who can afford to spend over a thousand bucks to replace paper and a pen?

READ: Sony 13.3-inch e-ink notepad prototype aims to replace paper in universities

Sony appears to be aiming at wealthy users initially, with an appearance planned at an American Bar Association event. Those lawyers could do with cutting back on the old tree killing paper use. But what about everyone else? It's still an attractive prospect.

The 13.3-inch display is E Ink so it should last for three weeks on a charge, says Sony. Plus, its impressive 1200 x 1600 resolution display gives at-a-glance reading without the need to zoom.

Writing on the screen is as easy as you'd imagine using the stylus and the device's handwriting input. It can also display PDFs that are scrollable by touch. There's no backlight but it's designed to be as clear as paper, even in daylight.

The Digital Paper weighs 357g, has 4GB storage, an SD card slot and charges via USB. It's all very impressive but we're still struggling to see how $1,100 can be parted with for a smart notepad. That's high end tablet territory.

For those taking regular notes, that need to be transferred to a computer, this would probably be a great time-saving device. But let's hope it catches on and that drives the price down so everyone else can start considering one.