Maeda's SIMPLICITY

Fab It

But will they make you run faster?

In my colleague Prof. Neil Gershenfeld's book FAB, Neil outlines a future where the computer will facilitate a world where you no longer go to a store and buy what has been mass-produced, but instead go online and buy what is specifically designed and fabricated for you. The end point of the revolution will be a personal fabrication system (much like a personal laserprinter) that lives somewhere in your home that magically creates any object that you might select on Amazon.com with the future "Make Now" button to replace the then outdated "Buy Now and Ship" button. Plans and designs will travel from Amazon.com's server to your personal fab and within minutes the object you've purchased online will be popping out the other end of your fab.

We haven't made it to Neil's world yet of course, but we'll likely get there. Until then, companies are rapidly moving in the area of mass-customization as evidenced by the recent conference held here at MIT. I have personally entered this arena from 9AM tomorrow with the help of some new friends from RBK that are deeply passionate about the future that may come. Hopefully the next steps in this artistic collaboration will be nothing more than fab-ulous. Gotta run ...

Posted by maeda at November 12, 2007 09:55 AM