Life on earth can only exist within approximately 10,000 meters above and below sea level. In other words, life is limited to the altitude commercial airlines fly to as deep as the bottom of the oceans. If the earth was a giant egg with a diameter of 12,000 km, life would only thrive on its shell. The multitude of life forms on this planet change the sun's energy to cycle matter such as carbon, oxygen and hydrogen in a life chain of evolution and selection spanning billions of years.

In this limited space, with limited energy resources, the one product that requires the ultimate in performance is the flatbed image scanner. Scanners that use a type of sensor known as CIS are required to be slim in design and have excellent energy saving capabilities-indeed a severe market where survival of the fittest is the watchword. Here we ask a few questions of the developers of CanoScan LiDE 500F, the latest model in the series of CIS flatbed scanners which have evolved over the last decade at a lightening pace compared to the slowly evolving life forms we share this planet with.