High performance, nanometer-scale silicon would obviously still have to be manufactured the classic way, because, nanometers. But, instead of buying a precious tablet, you order a ribbon of of peel & stick wafers, of commodity CPU and RAM chips. You then stick them onto a printed, flexible nv-mem + screen to enable it to compute at modern speeds.
As people get used to disposable, custom electronics, they learn that for most of what they do with a single sheet of "paper", they actually need very little computing power. Rugged, cheap, micrometer-scale CPUs make a comeback. Kids study them in grade school, using an ordinary optical microscope. IC designers start to optimize for readability. The general public begins to take responsibility for their hardware and software stack, the way they take responsibility for their vehicle and their home.
/dream
Of course, you then have to solder the components, which is a time-consuming and difficult process, what with the size of electronics these days. Most components' pads are a fraction of a square millimeter.
EDIT: I may be misunderstanding your point, as the article talks about printed displays etc, but I don't see how you could just get an inkjet cartridge that would allow a home printer to create a display...
I think that's where the differences would start for most people. In the parent's vision, you could assemble complex PCBs using ordinary office supplies and with little knowledge except about the circuit you want to build.
Today, you'd at least need a dedicated hobbyists' level of space, tools, and knowledge how to use the tools safely.
Not sure what that fifth layer would be, though. It could be something as mundane as a non-stretchable structural support. Or, it could be that there is more to OLEDs than the Wikipedia article lets on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED#Polymer_light-emitting_di...
As for how this would be printed, that is probably just a matter of coaxing the required layer-chemicals into a suspension that has the right consistency for their own printers. I recall an article a while ago, about some pharmaceutical researchers teaming up with HP to develop chemical print heads that spit out protein solutions, and then spit drugs onto them, in order to rapidly test millions of different concentrations. These people might even be using that same printer.
Case in point, Xerox licensed their IP and is already putting units in the field[1].
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics)
[1] http://www.packagingdigest.com/brand-protection/smart-label-...
It's sad to see that people are scaling innovation using only patents.
Well baby, you got yourself a stew!
I am not actually sure what the benefits of sheet-based logic are - RFID is obvious, but existing vendors prefer tiny, inflexible monocrystalline silicon dies instead. Are the Thinfilm RFID tags cheaper?
The Jetsons fridge that has always been promised, but never made. A fridge that could buy your food for you!
I'd create a cube of all those sandwiched together.
You could get a very similar effect to what you're proposing if you used a future-version of a flexible OLED screen like the ones that LG[1] (and others) are beginning to produce. It's not exactly the case (yet) where you could fabricate it at home with your super cool electronics inject printer. It is, however, definitely a step in the right direction for giving enterprising people the ability to create open-source and bespoke tablets, phones, and other media devices that previously were only within the reach of very well-funded companies.
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[1] http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2015/05/19/80/05010...
Looks to me like just about any low frequency, low power circuit is a possibility.
Sounds like the site needs an update.
(https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/10/17/the-moral-of-the-story..., CTRL+f for "By 2050")
Is it cheaper and more durable?
My guess is they can't do 10nm or anything competitive with it yet, so it's only suitable for displays and such.
Sad that they are spinning it as a physical products DRM although I certainly understand how that it is unique there. Cheap challenge/response authentication that even if you have all the materials and the printer you can't duplicate without the crypto secrets. Its a much better gizmo that a hologram sticker.
That said, I'd love to see them add OLEDs so that you can print a 'picture' and drop it on a table and have it light up. The signage options there would be pretty awesome too.
They describe being able to print memory, with logic planned in the future. They also talk about commercializing and scaling the process.
Rights management for physical goods seems to be the most commonly touted usecase for this. Another example usecase I have heard mentioned is a thermometer and an indicator that changes colour to indicate spoilage that can be printed into the label of temperature sensitive goods.
Standard critique of TPM includes pointing out that manufacture is a black box of trust. The ability to completely control both software and hardware seems like it would make this scheme more desirable.
