The End and the Beginning

All the fields are undergoing a revolution based in the dimensionality and length scale of electronic solids. For the traditional uses of electronic materials, it does not seem as though one-dimensional metals and exotic materials represent such a "quantum step" in performance. A possible exception is light-emitting devices for large-scale conformal displays. Therefore it is likely that these materials will slowly spread into economic niches rather than replace existing materials for the application areas. Material scientists are excited when giant conductivity in TTF-TCNQ, solitons in polyacetylene, superconductivity in cuprates, or mass production of carbon nanotubes are reported. But neither the scientists nor the administrators of funding agencies should be disappointed if five, ten, or even twenty years later, electrical cables are still made of copper and computer chips and are still made of silicon.