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Nanotech in U.S. News & World Report

Posted by Hemos on from the cool-stuff dept.

laborit writes: "U.S. News & World Report is running a piece on nanotech computing. It's surprising to see such a serious treatment in a major publication. And such an optimistic one -- Hybrid-nano computers in 15 months! (for more on this, see the interview at Earthfiles.

3 comments

  1. Will nanotech be the end of build your own box? by georgeha · · Score: 1

    So, when they starting making nano computers, will that be the end of building your own box?

    When you can no longer assemble a computer with fingers (and a soldering iron if you're way 'leet) but instead need high powered microscopes and nano-manipulators, who's going to be able to afford those tools?

    Maybe Intel (or whoever builds these nano-devices) will sell Von Neumann-ish devices to help the home builder play, maybe a Nano-Builder Studio, or even Visual Nano-Basic.

    George

    1. Re:Will nanotech be the end of build your own box? by Admiral+Burrito · · Score: 1

      So, when they starting making nano computers, will that be the end of building your own box?

      I doubt entire computers will be built that way. It will probably be cheaper (in terms of engineering and energy efficiency) to hire some monkey to slap a card in a slot, like we do today. Nanotech will probably just be used to build the chips.

      So you will be able to build your own computer from parts. You won't be able to build your own CPU and RAM, but who does that anyway?

  2. not *that* optimistic... by J.Random+Hacker · · Score: 1

    Reading the article a little more closely than the poster, It seems that the 15 month interval is when some small devices might be constructed. That's not really a hybrid-nano computer yet.

    Still, the possibilities for nano-computing devices are really stunning, and it seems to be just a matter of engineering now. Oh yeah -- there is still some science to work out also ;-)