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MicroElectroMechanical Systems in Review
jscribner writes: "Tis the season for tech forecasts and wrap-ups; I got to post this discussion on www.research.ibm.com; it's about how (merely 30 years after Feynman's speech) nanotechnology is finally being applied to chip and storage technologies. The IBM Research article covers RF (Radio Frequency) MEMS, micro-actuator MEMS, and the Millipede project. You can also find some interesting material on IDA's MEMS site and the IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems."
Don't hate me...I love the idea. Once people get them into products (cell phones apparently being one of the first) the applications of MEMS are endless. Maybe a coffee maker that has a working self-start timer? Mine never does. But to quote the article... "The Millipede advantage is not only more data in less space but also a lower cost-per-megabyte for consumers than flash. A 64 megabyte flash media card today costs around $100. A consumer could one day buy a postage-stamp-sized 5-10-gigabyte Millipede for potentially a lower price." How many companies are going to make this cost effective? Of course, the cost will drop eventually to make way for even more advanced technologies, but in the mean time will I be paying an exorbitant cost for something that is more than what I need? Cell phones are one thing, servers & data storage another, but how about how much my mechanic will charge me to replace one of these if they go into a car?