When Things Start to Think

Dr Gershenfeld,the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Centre for Bits and Atoms believes the next digital revolution will be a personal-fabrication machine costing about $20k. The personal-fabrication machine is made possible through open software, wireless communication, and internet collaboration technology. Gershenfeld like Bill Gates recognizes the potential in connecting the computer to the customer. Gates recognized the power of programmable languages; data presentation through a multitasking, preemptive context switching, and windows interface OS; and aggressive marketing of the microsoft products. Gershenfeld realizes the power of giving the most complex and sophisticated hardware and software to scientist and engineers of poor and remote countries giving them the power to fabricate tools and machines. Gershenfeld approach makes the digital virtual bits become concrete natural material bits. This is not about charity, this is about reducing the cost of production and increasing the quality of the product in cost prohibitive areas of the world. More directly it could mean a change in how consumers acquire the products they need. These tools and machines are cool because they solve simple problems where access to manufactured goods and services are not possible because of cost. Gates received strong support from the engineering and software development community and they rallied too build hundreds of millions of dollars worth of VBX/OCX components. Gershenfeld will need strong support from the community of programmers, scientist, and engineers too build a rich public library of tool/machine/chip schematics available by internet search and all downloadable digitally into the fabrication lab; also, complex scientific theory will need to be delivered, as intuitive concepts for search and application; and engineers and computer scientist will need to write software applications making the Computer Aid Design intuitive and functional. Manufacturing is about process oriented series steps in a complex series of systematic events. Gershenfeld knows that the complexity is massive and reducing this complexity to a simple lab is the first step to bringing engineering and science to the consumer. However, Gershenfeld freely admits that scientist experts, computer experts, and engineering experts will need to be access through the Fab Lab communities. The idea that imperfect components with error correction can build a perfect system is the fundamental law. Machines that can provide a little maintenance can last forever and produce indefinitely, things that become smarter. The personal-fabrication machine will allow individuals and small businesses to customise products meeting their needs and releasing an outpouring of talent. The segmentation between structural design and functionality are bridged by personal-fabrication. Structural engineers can build prototypes and include microchips to provide fu

Neil Gershenfeld uses his experiences in The Media Lab to provide a glimpse of what technology can do and how there is a long way to travel in mindset before it becomes even more useful to us in our daily routines. Even 5 years after its publication date, the insights are fresh and the examples and stories are relevant. I appreciated the intoduction of concepts such as atom-dollars and bit-dollars and the idea of a do-tank. The logical case that assigns the blame for telemarketing to Pope Leo X made me smile. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wonders why his or her VCR isn't smart enough to tell them the time rather than the other way around and who questions why technology hasn't yet evolved to more transparency and provided things with the ability to think about simple but useful tasks that they can accomplish without us having to give specific instructions every time.

When I first read the book, I was astonished at how intuitive everything was - well explained, well thought out, and extremely well written. I still look at the newspaper on my coffee table and wait for the day that it can do the tricks that the author suggested! If you're into technology, and are even remotely involved with the internet, this book is for you...And it will be for your children.

Yes there are technological marvels described here. Far more important than the technology is the vision of education it describes. Students are unleashed on the world and the inevitable happens. Wonder. Vision. Passion. Transmuting lead into gold is nothing compared to the riches of transmuting human energy.

When things start to think is one of the better, if not best, future-of-the-industry books of the past 12 months. First, it lacks the ego-centric writing that is the commonplace of MIT texts, which is refreshing. All too often the books coming out of MIT seem to be a self proclamation of value - "Hey, I'm important and cool, and so is my work". Gersenfeld, on the other hand, let's his work do the talking. He openly questions the appropriateness of some of his projects, and shows areal-world appreciation of what it means to bring product to market with his "1 dollar rule" for additive technology. With the exception of a few chapters at the end of the book, it is highly readable for all people of all professions, and is a refreshing new way of approaching old issues. It also reads at times like a collection of essays, so while you will want to read it in a linear fashion, it is easy to pick up, read, put down, and pick up again. You'll find yourself wanting to do that again and again, allowing your own ideas to digest and grow.