Nanotechnology and Digital Storage

Filed in archive Computing & Infotech on May 21, 2008

It still amazes me when I think about mobile hard drive technology. Currently, 2.5" hard drives with 320 GB capacity sell for roughly 130-150 USD. My old IBM ThinkPad 760 EL that I purchased in 1997 had a 2 GB hard drive and that was considered standard back then! We've come a really long way. The application of nanotechnology will allow us to create microchips and computer devices that will surpass what we can imagine.

Flash-based memory is also advancing quickly. I currently use a microSD card that holds 4 GB. This tiny little card literally fits on my fingertip. It's amazing! Nanotechnology will allow manufacturers to build faster computer memory. Nanostructures like quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, and nanowires may be far superior to silicon-based memory.

It still amazes me when I think about mobile hard drive technology. Currently, 2.5" hard drives with 320 GB capacity sell for roughly 130-150 USD. My old IBM Thinkpad 760 EL that I purchased in 1997 had a 2 GB hard drive and that was considered standard back then! We've come a really long way. The application of nanotechnology will allow us to create microchips and computer devices that will surpass what we can imagine.

Flash-based memory is also advancing quickly. I currently use a microSD card that holds 4 GB. This tiny little card literally fits on my fingertip. It's amazing! Nanotechnology will allow manufacturers to build faster computer memory. Nanostructures like quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, and nanowires may be far superior to silicon-based memory.

So what's the limit on speed and storage? How fast can computers get? How much digital storage will fit on a memory card that fits on your fingertip? With nanotechnology, the sky is the limit.