Plastic Logic announced it was going to develop electronic components made of plastic. Someday, silicone will be Old News. This company has been working on devices that have flexible parts – high resolution flexible active-matrix displays to be specific. Making electronic books that bend like their paper brothers is literally the Wave of the Future. Easier to read from than cell phones and laptops, this really is the best way to keep people reading comfortably and without wasting paper.
What Plastic Logic is about to do is build a plant to manufacture sheets of Organic Polymers. This plant is expected to open by 2008. It will be the first time plastic electronic devices will be mass produced. The sheets will be made of polyethylene terephthalate (save those plastic bottles!!). Circuits can then be printed on to these sheets. One million sheets are expected to be made every year – that’s plenty of electronic books!
At the moment plastic will not be replacing silicon because the plastic components are larger (5-10 micrometres) than silicon (nanometres – billionths of a metre). However, Plastic Logic is working on shrinking the plastic circuits.
Of course, if one wants to venture into fantasy, imagine circuits in your clothes, furnature, walls in your home, windows and who knows what else. Living in your home can become more organic as you can control temperature and security and entertainment simply by rubbing a pillow or a button. Wow!
Written by Cecilia