Toward Biological Computers
I wrote about biological-based computers in my book, Quantum
Investing. Seems like researchers at Technion have made some
remarkable advances recently.
"Technion scientists have developed a biological computer, composed
entirely of DNA molecules and enzymes constructed on a gold-coated
chip. This new computer represents a significant improvement over the
original computer reported three years ago in a joint paper by Prof.
Ehud Keinan of the Technion and a group from the Weizmann Institute of
Science, which included Yaakov Benenson, Prof. Ehud Shapiro and Prof.
Zvi Livneh. The Technion researchers succeeded in increasing the level
of complexity of their computer. Whereas the original computer could
accept up to 765 different programs, the new computer can accept as
many as 1 billion programs. This increase represents a dramatic
advance in terms of the potential mathematical operations and
complexity of problems that may be solved using a biological computer.
The results are published this week in the Journal of the American
Chemical Society."
I have little doubt that the Microsofts and Intels of the future will
have biological roots in their technologies. Those that don't simply
won't be around for very long.
posted by Steve Waite @ 4:16 PM 3 comments
Printing in the 21st Century
Speaking of self-replication...
"A self-replicating 3D printer that spawns new, improved versions of
itself is in development at the University of Bath in the UK. The
'self
replicating rapid prototyper' or RepRap could vastly reduce the cost
of
3Dprinters, paving the way for a future where broken objects and spare
parts are simply 're-printed' at home. New and unique objects could
also
be created. 3D printing - also known as 'rapid prototyping' -
transforms a
blueprint on a computer into a real object by building up a succession
of layers. The material is bonded by either fusing it with a laser or
by
using alternating layers of glue."
Sounds like science fiction doesn't it? Then again, we are in the 21st
Century folks!
posted by Steve Waite @ 3:47 PM 5 comments
Me and My Ric Posted by Hello
posted by Steve Waite @ 3:16 PM 1 comments
Meet the New Ma Bell
Folks that work with me regularly know that I'm a huge fan of a
revolutionary communications company called Skype. For years, I've
been telling anybody that would listen that the communications
industry would experience a gale of creative destruction as the
Internet and World Wide Web evolved.
While it may seem that the communications industry already has been
disrupted by new technologies, in reality the wave of creative
destruction has just begun. Skype is one of the companies that has
potential to relegate many of incumbent operators to the telecom
graveyard.
The Luxembourg-based startup has so far signed up 29 million
registered users for its free Net phone calling software--a unique
version of voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP--making it one of the
fastest-growing services on the Net. Now the company aims to generate
profits by offering paid services that promise to make its Net-only
product significantly more useful to consumers--and potentially more
lethal to traditional phone providers.
Last week, Skype quietly unveiled test versions of two new paid
products--voice mail and a service dubbed SkypeIn that lets
subscribers obtain ordinary telephone numbers. SkypeIn represents a
potential watershed, since it will enable Skype subscribers for the
first time to receive incoming calls from the hundreds of millions of
people who still use traditional phone services. Additionally, Skype
is working with equipment makers to develop hardware that will connect
conventional phones to its free software and paid services. German
giant Siemens, for one, has already released a Skype adapter for
cordless phones in Europe. New devices are expected soon in the United
States, from companies including Vtech and iMate, that will let people
make Skype calls using an ordinary handset, rather than a PC.
Needless to say, Skype's efforts to bridge the Internet and the
traditional phone network could pose a major headache for traditional
phone companies and other VoIP upstarts alike in the months ahead.
posted by Steve Waite @ 1:08 PM 8 comments
Beyond Price Competition
Many security analysts on Wall Street are fond of focusing on price
competition when analyzing companies and industries. While it is
useful to think about prices, Schumpeter believed that the competition
that really matters in not price competition among a large number of
firms producing a homogeneous product. Rather, it is:
"the competition form the new commodity, the new technology, the new
source of supply, the new type of organization -- competition which
commands a decisive cost or quality advantage and which strikes not at
the margins of the profits and the outputs of the existing firms but
at their foundations and their very lives."
The nanotechnology revolution will usher in an entirely new way of
manufacturing products -- one that will envolve creating new products
molecule by molecule using self assembly techniques that have never
existed before. Schumpeter's thoughts on the kind of competition that
drives the capitalist process should be kept in mind as the
nanotechnology revolution accelerates.
posted by Steve Waite @ 12:31 PM 0 comments
Welcome
In my book, Quantum Investing, I noted that as the pace of
technological innovation continues to accelerate, there would be an
enormous amount of what economist Joseph Schumpeter called creative
destruction in the global economy. The nanotechnology revolution is
still in an early stage of evolution, but I believe it has the
potential to bring about a gale of creative destruction during the
next decade and beyond. Other quantum-based technologies will also
play an important role in altering the business landscape. This
No comments:
Post a Comment