Nanotechnology

What is Nanotechnology?

I read  an article the other day in eschool news, the October 2010 edition.  It was titled, New Software turns paper into inexpensive digital tablet.  It is about a digital “Smart Pen”, produced by Livescribe.  It tells about using the pen for taking notes in class and publishing  them online using a technique called Pencasting.    It went on to tell about the newest, Echo “Smart Pen” that has digital storage capacity and enables the pen to stream all notes taken live to a computer, creating an inexpensive digital tablet.  For now, the pen has to be attached to the computer by a USB cord, but in the near future, that will not be necessary because of nanotechnology and its ability to manipulate individual molecules or atoms.

My first thought was how great that would be for my Illustration class.  As students illustrate a photograph, their illustration would be digitally saved on the computer or delivered live through the pencasting program.  This could enable new artists and authors to be able to inexpensively self publish their works.  Because the artistry is captured in real time, designers can not only show their work but demonstrate the technique used to create it, as well.  Pen and paper, as we know it today, would no longer exist.