The attractions of magnetism for nanoscale data storage

The latter half of the 20th century was marked by a ten-million-fold increase in the engineer's ability to store information magnetically (e.g. computer hard-disk drives). Without this, the computing revolution that the developed world has experienced would not have happened. In this paper, I discuss the technical difficulties that face engineering if it is to continue storing increasingly large amounts of information into the third millennium and show how applications of the emerging fields of nanotechnology and quantum engineering may provide solutions. I offer predictions for the course of development of information-storage technology, including concepts such as the quantized magnetic disk, magnetic RAM chips and new magnetic materials made from artificial giant atoms. The changes that might come about in society as a result of mass information storage are discussed.