All a gamble?

I am always amazed at the number and quality of technological advances that the world makes. There are gadgets that get written about and everyone wants a piece of it when actually its just a piece of shit. I managed to get tricked into buying the Moto Razr V3i. But then there are Ipods which at one time were a big ‘wow’ to me and I still think they’re great. Another ‘wow’ advance has been reported by Time magazine in its 19th February issue - the cheap and functional plastic microchip.

The article says that plastic chips will be increasingly used instead of silicon chips with market researchers at Virginia-based NanoMarkets predicting that plastic electronics will be worth nearly $35 billion by 2014. Plastic Logic, the company that came up with the idea of plastic chips will first produce a portable reader - a device that will let us carry our whole library on a sheet of plastic. However they will be available only in 2008. Then there are host of other high tech plastic gadgets that they have planned out.

Yes, all this seems very exciting. However the article to me is a brilliant piece of PR. Plastic Logic has attracted many venture capitalists and investors, but very obviously it is looking for more. But then, this innovation that could perhaps cut down the price of electronic circuitry by up to 90 per cent and the setting up of a factory requires capital. However no one seems to have contemplated the environmental damages this product will bring about. After all, this is plastic we’re talking about - and plastic is hugely non bio degradable. Whether we are trading the planet for short term benefits, only time will tell.