One of the worst technology predictions ever made was the promise of a paperless office: people happen to like printing emails and inspiring quotes of the day, but how long before it's all chucked in the recycle bin?

Toshiba recently launched a printer (the captivatingly named e-STUDIO3508LP) that erases paper so that it can be re-used up to four times. How cool, erasing a printed document. Printers are finally leaving the Jurassic stage of their evolution.

You can print in either traditional black or erasable blue toner. Documents that don't need to be kept for long, including photocopies, can be printed in the  erasable mode. Once they're finished with, feeding the pages back into the printer gets rid of whatever is on them.

The blue is dark enough to read comfortably, and after the paper is erased there is a ghosting effect that looks like a white on white print. But the next blue iteration still looks crisp.

The blue toner costs a little more than the black, but this printer is a great step forward in reducing paper consumption. Toshiba says sheets  can be used up to four times but adds some of its customers have managed  more. The trick is to keep the paper smooth.

If you use Pilot erasable pens or highlighters to mark up an erasable blue document, all the markings will be removed during the printer's erase process.

Once the decision to print in blue is made, the paper can't be re-used to print in black (on this printer anyway), the assumption being that permanent documents in black are important and shouldn't have a ghosted background.

Unfortunately, at around $7000-$10,000 (prices vary due to lease agreements and packages) it's not available as a home printer just yet, but this will come.