Nano Nano

With the reality of nano manufacturing around the corner, is the scarcity (and thus high price points) of material goods, say like supercomputers the size of mobile headsets a thing of the past? Natopian scenarios (like the video above) by futurists predict that brands will be meaningless and everyone will have access to the designs that create the most advanced customized products, but can that really be true?

Those especially in the nanotransistor business are optimistic about the possibilities and ready to give Moore’s law a run for its money. But when you see this cool little animation from Dupont is trying to put their “branded” stamp on it, the idea of hi tech (or any other kind of) brands being irrelevant falls by the wayside. As Bob Garfield eloquently stated recently, brands are becoming more important, not less and its likely to continue.

While biotech, genetics and nanotech may move human potential forward, it is still the majority of humans who determine acceptance and adoption of new ways of doing things. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) those decisions are still made by our emotions no matter which nano powered computing networks we’ve connected our rational minds to.