Comments on: Can data be stored on single atoms?

Anisotropy--there's a word you don't hear everyday. It's the focus of IBM research published this week that could result in incredibly tiny computers.

[satayboy]

trillion bits in an iPod

"Potentially, atomic-level storage or switching could result in incredibly tiny computers. With atomic storage, you could fit a trillion bits of information in an iPod, according to IBM estimates."

But of course you can fit 640 billion bits of information in an 80Gb iPod today.

[pjhenry1216]

i was gonna say the same thing...

it doesn't seem to be a huge jump there. we'd have 125GB* iPods instead. I mean, that's around 156.5% increase, but thats not ridiculous or anything. Unless the article is referring to iPod nanos... in which case... it would be a bit of a jump... approx. 1565% increase in capacity (assuming 8gig nano model).

* - Apple's measurements of a Gigabyte (1 billion bytes)

[gsman11]

mistake?

i had to re-read that a couple of times because it just did not seem impressive at all. 1 trillion bits is something like 125 GB if my math serves me correctly. 80 GB ipods are currently available and with advancements in hard drive technology such as perpendicular recording, i would imagine that 125gb could be surpassed without "atomic level" storage techniques.

using individual atoms seems completely impractical. accomplishing this in a clean room in a bunker using electron microscopes is quite a bit different than an ultra portable device that will be exposed to shock, temperature change, etc.

[deckerr3]

mistake

If you look here http://www.informationweek.com/news/
showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201803325 .. they meant to say
1,000 trillion bits, a significant increase over the 80 gb iPod,
Rob

[michael kanellos]

Correct you are

It sounded really low when I was typing. I forgot to put in the 1,000 part. Must stop typing with my feet. Tnanks for seeing that.