Nanotechnology will change the world, the pundits tell us, and people are racing to become a part of the new craze, launching web sites, special reports, companies, and products with the nano prefix. Over two billion dollars a year of government money is being pumped into nanotechnology worldwide, matched by a similar amount from private industry.
Yet, despite the plethora of research reports in recent months, few of the pundits seem to have much of a grasp of what nanotechnology encompasses or how it is going to achieve these supposed dramatic effects. Reporting, both from the popular press and respected business sources, all too often mixes up nanotechnologies that are just around the corner with those that are highly speculative or very long-term.
At the root of the confusion is an important aspect of nanotechnology that differentiates it from earlier revolutions such as the Internet. Although the Internet revolution has been enabled by a new technology, it can largely be understood and evaluated in terms of traditional markets, e.g. selling products to consumers, provision of information, etc.
With nanotechnology, however, the technology itself is fundamental. Nanotechnology is about making things, whether it is making things that are smaller, faster or stronger, making something completely new or with additional properties, or making machines that will lead to new manufacturing paradigms. To effectively evaluate the potential of the technology and its markets, a firm understanding of the nature of the technology is essential. Equally, the perspective must be global in scope since governments and corporations worldwide are investing in nanotech and research is active on several continents.
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