Amorphous carbon has a wide range of properties that are primarily controlled by the different bond hydridisations possible in such materials. This allows for the growth of an extensive range of thin films that can be tailored for specific applications. Films can range from those with high transparency and are hard diamond-like, through to those which are opaque, soft and graphitic-like. Films with a high degree of sp3 bonding giving the diamond-like properties are used widely by industry for hard coatings. Application areas including field emission cathodes, MEMS, electronic devices, medical and optical coatings are now close to market. Experts in amorphous carbon have been drawn together to produce this comprehensive commentary on the current state and future prospects of this highly functional material.