Out of the frying pan ...

Dear Mr.Lovy,

I happened to find an article/comments on nanobot website today, thought maybe it's good to have a conversation with you in order to clarify a few things.

I understand you might have seen many products today which claim that they are 'nanotechnology' based. We use less than 20 nanometer components in our product. I am not sure how to prove it without disclosing our commercial secrets.

Next is OilFresh is a device for frying oil, not a oil bottle.

... I am not trying to challenge you with nanotechnology, but simply try to help not to mislead readers.

Many thanks,

Sonny

Hi, Sonny,

Thanks for your note, and there is no need for you to prove it. I believe that you use components that are less than 20 nanometers, which puts you well under the 100-nanometer threshold that gives you the right to call your product "nanotechnology." That seems to be the generally accepted criteria these days, which means you've earned the right to promote and sell your product as nanotech. And it also, fortunately or unfortunately, places your company inside the radar of every nanotech-watcher who approaches it from every different angle -- from Wall Street to the blogosphere.

I have many running themes on this blog, but one important one is my observation that commercial interests are driving the nanotech vision, redefining “real” nanotechnology to suit what is best for nanobusiness. And that's fine. I have no problem with that, and never have. In fact, I spent three years helping to pioneer "nanotechnology journalism" and was partially responsible for selecting what to label "nanoreality" based on who actually had a business model and a path to products. But, then, I witnessed something abhorrent to me along the way -- an ugly, mean-spirited dismissal and marginalization of anything that did not match the nanobusiness criteria. And it was done for such short-sighted and obvious reasons, I was completely baffled as to why I was one of only a few journalists who bothered to question it. And I've paid a bigger price for taking this stand than I have ever really indicated on this blog.

When I first began to cover nanotechnology, I thought I was going to cover nanotechnology. My naivette was, I discovered, an advantage as a journalist, since I came with no baggage, no preconceived ideas of what nanotech "is" and "is not." But as I explored the "nano world" and its internal divisions, I discovered that it was not only a contest of competing methodologies. It was a contest of competing "mythologies." "My method is correct, yours is a myth and defies the laws of physics." That's how scientists argue. There are no two methods. My world is my world, and if you propose a method from another, you are not only wrong, but you are also dangerous – dangerous because you spread "myths," dangerous because what you say is "possible" will be misused by those who would like to put a stop to all of our work. And the portions of the argument that are convenient for short-term business and investment interests to believe are passed on to the public in the form of pronouncements about what is "real" and what is "mythology."

So, anyway. Where was I? Oh, yeah. OilFresh. Sorry. You were a "target of opportunity" for a bit of sarcasm. You have my blessing to call yourself "nanotechnology" or "Sonnyohtechnology." Whatever you want, and whatever will help you sell your product. Gey gezunt. Just leave some room for a bit of the futuristic stuff -- like building a brand new, atomically precise frying-oil device from the bottom up.

Howard

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