Re: Nanotech & how to prepare for the future

From: Adrian Tymes (wingcat@pacbell.net)
Date: Wed Dec 20 2000 - 22:18:37 MST


Samantha Atkins wrote:
> If I was of a mind I would start or at least design some business plans
> of things coming up next.
>
> I'm starting to think that the hottest next thing (< 2 years before it
> explodes) is PDAs on steroids => practical, ubiquitous wearable
> computers and massively available personalized computer access and
> services. This will enable a level of human computer support and
> extension that will be impossible not to have if you want to be
> competitive a few slim years hence. It is a very interesting field full
> of challenges and wonderful possibilities. It will make a real
> difference in raising the effective IQ.

One approach I keep thinking might make some decent money, at least
until The Powers That Be start imitating this approach (by which time,
it would hopefully be more profitable to buy this business rather than
copy everything inhouse), if someone could pull it off:

* Come up with designs for a x86-compatible processor and motherboard -
  not necessarily fast, not necessarily Pentium-compatible (386 should
  be sufficient), but two layers at most - and print it on some plastic
  a la the printable PC research at MIT. Emphasis here is that the
  circuit still works even with minor (~ 1 mm) holes and rips.
  Possibly use insane amounts of parallel processing (since "chip" real
  estate is relatively cheap) to help mitigate speed issues brought on
  by large feature size (at 100 MHz, even light can only travel 3
  meters per cycle, counting all the circuit traces would have to go
  through; if each feature is, say, 2 mm wide, then that's at most
  1500 gates even if one could put them right next to each other, and
  that's not even accounting for memory latency).

* Make a vest with a large back pocket to drop the above into, with
  some conducting fibers leading to other pockets for accessories -
  hard drives, extra memory, keyboard, external display, et cetera.
  Also have jacks in the collar for speakers/mic that attach to one's
  skull, and for eyeglass monitor. Put changeable/rechargeable
  batteries along the seams (with, of course, either warnings to take
  them out or some way of protecting them when the vest goes in the
  wash).

* Market it as a standard for others to add peripherals and software to,
  probably (at least at first) with a standard set of peripherals and
  software bundled with each unit (but also offering the vest alone when
  it becomes economical to do so). Perhaps make the chip design open
  source; make money by servicing the more common variants of the chip
  and by selling the vest and, to those so inclined, the circuit printer
  and circuit design software (the last of which can most likely boil
  down to a CAD-program-of-choice-to-circuit-printer filter, and ride
  on existing CAD software; the former might boil down to just special
  ink and plastic for existing inkjet printers).

Objective: become the Intel of wearables.



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