Business Relinquishment

WesDuCharme writes "Glenn Reynolds has an interesting piece entitled A Tale of Two Nanotechs http://www.techcentralstation.com/012804A.html. He makes the case that the business community is pulling us away from molecular nanotechnology for fear of the public relations problems that advanced applications may cause. In making the case, however, he oversimplifies the dichotomy, ìThe downside is that a sometimes-bitter war has been waged within the nanotechnology community itself, between the scientists and visionaries on the one hand, and the business people on the other. The scientists and visionaries want research on advanced nanotechnologyÖî Of course there are some scientists, such as Richard Smalley (whom Glenn mentions later), who seem squarely on the side of the business community in this matter. The article goes on to make good arguments that what we might call ìbusiness relinquishmentî is unlikely to work."