Re: Art, where's the buzz on nanotech saving America today?

Threeducks wrote:
rrc wrote:

Art, back during the IT collapse of '01 and '02, nanotechnology was
heralded as the future savior of the nation. Well... where's all the
buzz nowadays?

If anything, nano's dead and has been replaced by the hydrogen economy
and other high oil price chicanery cerca late 70s malarkey. What gives?
Have the spin doctors on Charlie Rose lost their will to b.s. till they
drop?

There's a strange silence on the messiah of nanotechnology and it seems
to be prevalent with the current misdirection of energy related stories.


Many academics have their hands in nanotechnology and a lot of advances are being made. However, these are not things that turn into products overnight. I never believed that this was going to be the messiah, but advances will be made that eventually lead to great products.

That's not, however, what the general public hears. It's been told all sorts of "Oooh!" and "Aaaah!" stories about how everyone's life will be revolutionized, how bright and shiny their tomorrows will be, and that they will be rolling in wealth within a few years. It remains that way for a few years and then fades into the background as attention is shifted to whatever is deemed the "next big thing". John Q. Public never hears about how the promises that were made were often far-fetched and have no basis in reality, that the dazzling new machines that were forecast will be a long way off (if they were ever feasible to begin with), that the progress made is hampered by unforeseen problems or factors that no one ever counted on, and that the science is not well-understood.

I've known people who've been horsing around with this stuff for the better part of a decade. They produced lots of papers and a few graduate theses, but nothing tangible. I don't think they ever had any intention of doing anything useful with it others than justifying their paycheques.
.