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Carbon Nanotube Memory on the Way

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the prepare-yourselves dept.

Cyberherbalist writes "Nantero, a nanotechnology company, is expecting prototypes of products using NRAM technology (nanotube-based, non-volatile random access memory) to be available in 2006. In the article at nature.com, it says that 'the company has succeeded in making circular wafers, 13 centimetres in diameter, that hold 10 gigabits of data.' And they are ten times faster than 'flash' memory."

11 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. What next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    What next, an optical laptop?

  2. wow!! by Lucractius · · Score: 3, Funny

    It looks like they have a fnatastic new use for it too
    these guys [ http://atomchip.com/_wsn/page4.html ] would love it ! it sounds like the perfect complementary technology to their unique advancement of computing!

    Seriously, this nanotech stuff kicks ass, if it doesnt have the same write burn flash memory has, then this stuff would make solid state storage possible and FAST :D no more noisy hard drive... Perfect. No more worrying about over using your iPod Nano, changing your songs to often. All those nagging hassles GONE :D

    --
    XML - A clever joke would be here if /. didn't mangle tag brackets.
  3. Re:Wafer? by alexatrit · · Score: 5, Funny

    And how thick is a wafer, exactly? compared to say, a disk platter? If they attain the access time mentioned in TFA, it is rather impressive. High-capacity, fast, thin, and preferably shiny things are always impressive.

    --

    Nothing but the finest in meaningless drivel
  4. Hype? by mothlos · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is there anything you can't do with carbon nanotubes?

    So far I have heard that they will be the next steel, the next silicon, the next communication line, the next display medium, the next fabric, the next medicinal treatment. I just want to know is will this change the world in the same fundamental way that mineral oil did in the 20th?

    1. Re:Hype? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
      I just want to know is will this change the world in the same fundamental way that mineral oil did in the 20th?

      Or the way snake oil did in the 19th?

  5. Re:Wafer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're overlooking the retro market. Can't you just see it? 2007: Apple announces the iWalk, a moderately bulky portable player that holds -- get this -- 90 minutes of music! It'll be cool, though, since it will be in rainbow colors (so 70's) and it will be hip since it features Carbon Nanotube Memory. (Of course, /. will totally rave about it when it comes out.)

  6. Yes, but... by wootest · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...does it scratch easily?

  7. Re:Wafer? by aug24 · · Score: 5, Funny
    Ah... ferrite core. I remember being shown a 4 inch square of that stuff that held... a kilobit. Yes, that's right, 256 bytes filling the size of your hand. 32 copper wires across and down, with a little lump of black ferrite core at each junction, like the ugliest jewellery you ever saw.

    When they got bugs in the system, they could correct the memory by hand with a magnet...

    Ah, those were the completely off-topic days.

    Justin.

    --
    You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
  8. But why? by StoatBringer · · Score: 1, Funny

    Nobody will ever need more than 640k of memory!

    --
    Cress, cress, lovely lovely cress
  9. Down the tubes! by VegeBrain · · Score: 3, Funny

    So finally when the system crashes we can say it went down the tubes and really mean it!

  10. Re:Wafer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It's a prototype for Christ's sake....it'll get smaller with time.

    That's what she said.