When I wrote my post about E Ink persistency, I noted that E Ink has a display at their office that was turned off in 2001 - and it still shows the image correctly. A nice reader just sent me the following photo, showing an Active-Matrix E Ink display that was last refreshed on November 2000 - yes, 11 years ago!
This panel was developed by Philips, with the front panel made by E Ink and the back plane (AM) made in Philip' LCD plant in Kobe, Japan. The reader says that this is actually the world's first active-matrix E Ink panel, and is probably the oldest one that still shows an image. Over the years it has long some of its contrast, but the image is still clearly visible.
There's still time to send us your E Ink persistency application ideas and win one of two e-readers!