In May Jurvetson invested in Vancouver, Canada-based D-Wave Systems, which aims to build a solid-state quantum computer.

FORBES: Mr. Nanotech

Its products include integrated circuits that are used in disk drives, solid state drives, high-speed communications systems, computer servers, storage systems, and personal computers.

FORBES: Earnings Preview: LSI

It seems clear that solid-state storage will have a growing role in personal computer architectures, although users needing more storage may find flash memory a bit expensive.

FORBES: Seagate Discontinuing 7,200 RPM Drives--A Focus on Capacity?

G6 mainframe computer depends on the use of silicon chips with copper connections that draw on solid-state physics research done in the firm's laboratory in the 1980s.

ECONOMIST: Philips

At the recent Storage Developers Conference (SNW) in Santa Clara, CA several companies participating in the SNIA SSSI (Solid State Storage Initiative) gave a vision of future flash memory storage interfaces, based upon the PCIe computer interface.

FORBES: A New Age of Digital Storage Interfaces

Other computer makers are now following suit with slim devices that forgo economical and capacious hard drives for slim solid state storage.

FORBES: Apple's iPad Behind $4.3 Billion Disk Drive Deal