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IBM Says Polymer Memory Could Be Ready By 2005

Posted by timothy on from the my-brain-awaits-an-upgrade dept.

prostoalex writes "Polymer memory is hardly anything new, and we already had HP and Princeton announcing their prototype. In a Forbes magazine article IBM promises polymer memory that's five times cheaper than current flash memory, and expects the first devices with polymer data storage systems to be delivered possibly by 2005. IBM's Zurich Lab published this article last year with description of Millipede."

3 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. Re:5X Cheaper? by bstadil · · Score: 4, Insightful
    If history is any guide indeed you will.

    The interesting point about the semiconductor market that makes it different from almost anything else is that it pay's to drive down the price as your cost decreases.

    The reason being that the market thereby grows at a much faster rate, more than compensating the price drop. Remember Profit in $ is Unit profit * Unit.

    Just look at Cell Phones as a good recent example. Industries has repeatedly learned that artificially holding the price high kills you. If interested in more info Google Clayton Christenson + Disruptive technologies.

    --
    Help fight continental drift.
  2. Re:5X Cheaper? by jcr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You'll see far more than that, if history is any indicator. I've got 64 megs of RAM in my video card, for chrissakes. I have spent upwards of a grand for half a meg of main memory.

    For bulk storage, I can buy disks for less than a dollar a gigabyte today. I spent over a grand for the first one gig drive I ever bought.

    So yeah, you'll see a 5X savings. Count on it.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  3. Re:Hmmm. Cheap long term storage? by MarkusQ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To capture the market, this stuff has to either be:

    1. Cheaper than flash or HDs.
    2. More durable than flash or HDs (or even CD/DVDs)
    3. Be faster than flash/HDs/optical media.

    Nope. Read The innovator's dilemma. All it has to do is:

    1. Have room for improvement
    2. Serve a niche market that the others can't
    3. Improve over time into something they aren't
    Micro-computers (to use one of his examples) weren't cheaper (for the power), more durable, or faster than big iron. But they came in smaller increments and could serve markets that the big players couldn't...

    -- MarkusQ