Slashdot Mirror
The Promise Of Transparent Circuits
aaron huslage writes "Research into Transparent Circuits has apparently come a long way lately. 'In a development that could accelerate architectural deployment of see-through surfaces with embedded circuitry, researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology have greatly improved the processing speed of transparent semiconductors, according to a report in the Nov. 25 issue of the journal Nature.' Imagine that your house is your computer!" Or a truly active windshield display in the car.
"...making it suitable for flat expanses of electronics such as massive display surfaces or walls with embedded networking" Sounds like they're talking about turning movie screens into giant processors.
The question now is what would we want our movie screens to do?
I'd settle for one that automatically blocks most of the sunlight. I'm too big for the visors to work without blocking my view of the road, and I almost hit a pedestrian this morning who was wearing white and in the glare of the sun. A dark dot that positions itself between the driver's eyes and the sun would be very useful, even if that's all the 'active' windshield did.
You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
I keep hearing all this feel-good nonsense pushed by companies trying to sell these gadgets.
They keep saying that this new technology will make drivers safer. Yet in reality when this stuff comes to the market, people just find a way to use this stuff that makes them WORSE drivers!
Remember when LCD screens were going to help people navigate? Now they end up missing their turn because they're busy watching TV on the screen that's supposed to be giving them directions.
Remember when cell phones would make travelling safer because you could call a tow truck from the side of the road? Now people just chat away on their phone while driving and they don't pay attention to the road. After they ram their 5,000 lb SUV into a wall they'll need the tow truck for sure, now.
How about we remove all these distractions and make people actually DRIVE their car! While these gadgets have *potential* good uses, in reality nothing is more dangerous than a person not paying attention to what they're doing.
Keep real safety features on a car and do away with the things that make them more dangerous. No watching TV while you're driving, no playing video games, no talking on the phone. Drive.
Wouldn't the actual chips/capacitors/resisters/etc still be a tad opaque? Now that'd make for an intersting windshield... and it'd better be a one-sided circuit or just be on the inside of the actual windshield in case of rain/insects/flying pieces of conductive metal... and condensation/freezing weather, etc...
Actio personalis moritur cum persona. (Dead men don't sue)
First off the tax break was initially for Vans and trucks.
The goal of the break was to allow farmers and small business witht here purches of need equipment. At that time SUV's were nowhere near the weight they are today, and they weren't seen as a status symbol.
SO the tax break is not now, not has it ever been for 'SUVs'.
They have since changed that tax break considerably.
"...but that would mean inconveniencing SUV users a bit which is the last thing the US wants to do."
Where is your logic in that?
Why would that be true? Get off your knee jerk High horse.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on