If this organic chemistry/plastic tech was taken to the limit, what you might get is a single, nearly featureless plastic shape, molded to your personal taste. There might be a connection for a battery, some keys and ports, but otherwise the thing is probably featureless.
All the plastics in the device look alike (maybe different colors), but each servs different purposes. One plastic could produce a laser/light for the screen, one plastic provides the computing capability. A magnetic plastic provides memory. They even have plastics that act as solar panels, so maybe it wouldn't need to have batteries replaced so often.
Now try to reverse engineer this thing.
Go ahead. Find the wires. Can't see anything, because everything is the same kind of semi-opaque color?
You probably can't even open it up because the device was extruded and baked, not etched on circuit boards. And it's definitely not meant to be modified or upgraded, but just thrown away, because once these things can be mass produced they are going to be really damn cheap.
This is a computer company's dream come true: disposable computers. It is also a boon to the consumer's pocketbook. Still, the hardware nerds will have to stay on their toes to keep the technology open-source.
Slashdot Mirror
For glowing stuff, check this link out. It just came out yesterday:
d _975000/975271.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsi
If this organic chemistry/plastic tech was taken to the limit, what you might get is a single, nearly featureless plastic shape, molded to your personal taste. There might be a connection for a battery, some keys and ports, but otherwise the thing is probably featureless.
All the plastics in the device look alike (maybe different colors), but each servs different purposes. One plastic could produce a laser/light for the screen, one plastic provides the computing capability. A magnetic plastic provides memory. They even have plastics that act as solar panels, so maybe it wouldn't need to have batteries replaced so often.
Now try to reverse engineer this thing.
Go ahead. Find the wires. Can't see anything, because everything is the same kind of semi-opaque color?
You probably can't even open it up because the device was extruded and baked, not etched on circuit boards. And it's definitely not meant to be modified or upgraded, but just thrown away, because once these things can be mass produced they are going to be really damn cheap.
This is a computer company's dream come true: disposable computers. It is also a boon to the consumer's pocketbook. Still, the hardware nerds will have to stay on their toes to keep the technology open-source.