Siemens, nano, and advertising

The product is called the Simatic IPC227D Nanobox PC and it’s from Siemens. Of course, the ‘nano’ is what caught my attention. For the record, I could find no mention of this being a nanotechnology-enabled product; it appears that this is purely an advertising/marketing ploy. From the May 3, 2011 news item on physorg.com,

The nano-format PC uses new, high-performance Atom [emphasis mine] processors from Intel. These processors consume little energy and generate almost no heat, which is why the computer doesn’t need a fan and can be installed practically anywhere. In its basic configuration, the computer measures only 19 x 10 x 6 centimeters and is completely maintenance-free. Instead of a hard disk, it has temperature-resistant CompactFlash cards with up to eight gigabytes of capacity or solid-state drives (SSDs) of at least 50 gigabytes. What’s more, the BIOS setup data is magnetically stored so that no batteries are needed as a safeguard.

The compact computer is also available for display and operating systems. Known as the Simatic HMI IPC277D Nanopanel PC, this version is embedded with 7-inch, 9-inch, or 12-inch high-resolution industrial touch displays. The displays consume very little power, thanks to LED backlighting that can be dimmed by up to 100 percent.

The Atom processor from Intel is not a single atom processor, this too is an advertising/marketing ploy.

Coincidentally, I came across this news item on Nanowerk, Single atom stores quantum information on the same day. From the news item,

A data memory can hardly be any smaller: researchers working with Gerhard Rempe at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have stored quantum information in a single atom. The researchers wrote the quantum state of single photons, i.e. particles of light, into a rubidium atom and read it out again after a certain storage time (“A single-atom quantum memory”). This technique can be used in principle to design powerful quantum computers and to network them with each other across large distances.

I do find it a bit confusing when companies use terms for marketing purposes in ways that could be construed as misleading. Or perhaps it’s only misleading for someone like me, not really scientific but not really ‘general public’ material either.

2 thoughts on “Siemens, nano, and advertising

  1. Werner Von Siemens

    Nano means small. Nothing more. The next size up Industrial PC they make is called a Micro. If they make one smaller, it will probably be called a Pico.

  2. admin

    Hi! Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment. You bear an illustrious name since it is identical to the Siemens Company founder who died in 1892. As for what the word nano means, in common usage today it means 1 billionth of a metre. The word has its roots in classical Greek where it means dwarf or extremely small. Cheers, Maryse

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