Graphene - Circuits with built in expiry.

[PB666]

http://www.hngn.com/articles/135288/20150930/scientists-discover-create-disappearing-electronic-circuits-using-graphene.htm

According to the article adding carbon on top of graphene causes them to evolve, eventually disappearing.

[SomeGuy12]

That's fairly obvious this will happen. Obviously the graphene has to be trapped inside something that won't covalently bond with the 2d graphene layer. You're saying you'd do this on purpose to make expiring circuits? What kind of lifespan are we talking about here? Why would you want circuits that fail eventually on purpose?

[grawl]

Well, let's not forget high-tech companies are companies, dedicated to make money by selling products to you.

If the product they make lasts a lifetime, you won't buy any more of it, won't you ?

[vger]

So we're going from planned obsolescence to forced obsolescence.

Still waiting for the day that hammers have chips in them designed to detect 50000 impacts, and if you use it again, it sends a signal to the police to come and arrest you for violating the EULA.

I'm going to assume the wording in the article is far too "idiot-proof" by the way. When they talk of "evolving circuitry" doesn't this mean they could say... "Oh it's a phone when you pass through security, but later on it will overload the battery to explode, when you're half-way across the Atlantic."

Edited September 30, 2015 by vger

[PB666]

When they talk of "evolving circuitry" doesn't this mean they could say... "Oh it's a phone when you pass through security, but later on it will overload the battery to explode, when you're half-way across the Atlantic."

I was thinking along those lines, but instead a James Bond style bug that looks like a button or some common household item, maybe a cockroach which can evesdrop but after a certain period disintegrates leaving no trace. Or imagine a chip for an elevator that works for a time, but then the next rider gets dropped to the basement. Or a memory pen that has a virus that will distribute for a time but then after a while part of the memory just vanishes, leaving no evidence that the memory was 10mb instead of the 8 that it appears.

With regard to the first responder, dropping carbon atoms, I agree, who expects stability. Certainly if you want stable carbon devices they need to be coated in somesort of anti-oxidant otherwise the lowest energy state, even for graphene is CO2.

[SomeGuy12]

Well, ok, the problem I have as an engineer myself is that I wouldn't want to have the devices fail prematurely. Much better to have the device be reliable but if it is a limited time use product, have a sealed battery, internal to the chip, and use that battery to run a timer. When the timer hits zero, erase the firmware. Protect the firmware from reading (all modern microcontrollers and FPGAs have this protection).

This is how you'd want to say, distribute anti aircraft and anti tank guided missiles to an ally you only marginally trust, such as Ukraine.

[PB666]

Well, ok, the problem I have as an engineer myself is that I wouldn't want to have the devices fail prematurely. Much better to have the device be reliable but if it is a limited time use product, have a sealed battery, internal to the chip, and use that battery to run a timer. When the timer hits zero, erase the firmware. Protect the firmware from reading (all modern microcontrollers and FPGAs have this protection).

This is how you'd want to say, distribute anti aircraft and anti tank guided missiles to an ally you only marginally trust, such as Ukraine.

That might be a wider regional desire. You could go even one step higher, have the circuit stop an explosive self-destruct, if it not replace every month it the circuit breaks and self-destructs initiate. Or even have the circuit switch to a allied activated self-destruct, so when you engage a foe with your stolen vehicle in battle you simply blow them up.

[sgt_flyer]

leaving aside the 'disappearing' part.

They seem to think they can also 'reconfigure' the circuits and gates - (basically one step further than FPGAs, whose internal circuitry never change)

Guess this could spark the interests of electronic companies : from a single wafer, they would end up being able to create either memories or processing units from a 'blank' wafer. (So they would only need to produce one single type of wafer - no further need to recreate a new machinery for building updated models of their wafers in case they discover a flaw in their circuit logic or they discover a more efficient / powerful arrangement of circuits)

Guess circuitry with evolving capabilities would also interest AI specialists

Edited September 30, 2015 by sgt_flyer

[magnemoe]

Well, let's not forget high-tech companies are companies, dedicated to make money by selling products to you.

If the product they make lasts a lifetime, you won't buy any more of it, won't you ?

Well they have done very well for an long time, very long then you think about it, steam engines was high tech once

Also hammers dont wear out but you can still make money selling

them

[vger]

Also hammers dont wear out but you can still make money sellingthem

There's no such thing as "enough money" in the corporate world though. Electronic devices used to last decades before needing to be replaced (I know someone who still has a fully-functional first-gen microwave), and businesses could still do fine if they made devices that good now. BUT, they can make them cheaper, break easily, and still charge the same price. That means more money, so they do it. The same thing will likely come out of this.

[More Boosters]

There's no such thing as "enough money" in the corporate world though. Electronic devices used to last decades before needing to be replaced (I know someone who still has a fully-functional first-gen microwave), and businesses could still do fine if they made devices that good now. BUT, they can make them cheaper, break easily, and still charge the same price. That means more money, so they do it. The same thing will likely come out of this.

I'm not sure if planned obsolescence is as big of a deal as people seem to think. My iPhone 4 has shrugged off multiple drops (including one from a moving bus with its door open, I dropped it and it slid on the floor onto the street) and it still works with no discernible defect. But those charging cables are indeed overpriced and they don't last long so there's a problem there.

[vger]

I'm not sure if planned obsolescence is as big of a deal as people seem to think. My iPhone 4 has shrugged off multiple drops (including one from a moving bus with its door open, I dropped it and it slid on the floor onto the street) and it still works with no discernible defect. But those charging cables are indeed overpriced and they don't last long so there's a problem there.

Intentionally making products that break isn't as big of a deal with you're dealing with things that run software that require updating. In that case the software can render the hardware obsolete on its own.