Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution
That's the promise, and peril, of the third digital revolution, where anyone will be able to make (almost) anything

Two digital revolutions — computing and communication — have radically transformed our economy and lives. A third digital revolution is here: fabrication. Today's 3D printers are only the start of a trend, accelerating exponentially, to turn data into objects: Neil Gershenfeld and his collaborators ultimately aim to create a universal replicator straight out of Star Trek. While digital fabrication promises us self-sufficient cities and the ability to make (almost) anything, it could also lead to massive inequality. The first two digital revolutions caught most of the world flat-footed, thanks to Designing Reality that won't be true this time.
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Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution
That's the promise, and peril, of the third digital revolution, where anyone will be able to make (almost) anything

Two digital revolutions — computing and communication — have radically transformed our economy and lives. A third digital revolution is here: fabrication. Today's 3D printers are only the start of a trend, accelerating exponentially, to turn data into objects: Neil Gershenfeld and his collaborators ultimately aim to create a universal replicator straight out of Star Trek. While digital fabrication promises us self-sufficient cities and the ability to make (almost) anything, it could also lead to massive inequality. The first two digital revolutions caught most of the world flat-footed, thanks to Designing Reality that won't be true this time.
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Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution

Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution

Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution

Designing Reality: How to Survive and Thrive in the Third Digital Revolution

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Overview

That's the promise, and peril, of the third digital revolution, where anyone will be able to make (almost) anything

Two digital revolutions — computing and communication — have radically transformed our economy and lives. A third digital revolution is here: fabrication. Today's 3D printers are only the start of a trend, accelerating exponentially, to turn data into objects: Neil Gershenfeld and his collaborators ultimately aim to create a universal replicator straight out of Star Trek. While digital fabrication promises us self-sufficient cities and the ability to make (almost) anything, it could also lead to massive inequality. The first two digital revolutions caught most of the world flat-footed, thanks to Designing Reality that won't be true this time.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465093472
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 11/14/2017
Pages: 304
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Neil Gershenfeld has been called the intellectual father of the maker movement. He leads MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, and is the founder of the global network of over 1,000 community fab labs.

Alan Gershenfeld is president of E-Line Media and former chairman of Games for Change. He is currently working with the Center for Bits and Atoms and Fab Foundation on a DARPA funded game to fire the imagination of a generation around the future of digital fabrication.

Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld is a professor at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and former president of the Labor and Employment Relations Association. He is a pioneer in high performance work systems and has led U.S. and global mapping of stakeholder alignment around digital fabrication.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 How to Make (almost) Anything 17

Fabrication 18

Education 24

Application 30

Implication 41

Organization 50

Chapter 2 How to (almost) Make Anything 55

Fab Access 57

Fab Literacy 63

Enabling Ecosystems 67

Mitigating Risk 82

Grand Challenges 90

Chapter 3 The Science 95

From Moore's Law to Loss' Law 95

Communication, Computation, Fabrication 102

Four Billion Years of Digitization 106

Intelligent Design 110

Chapter 4 The Social Science 117

Moore's Law Versus Lass' Law 118

Reactive Versus Proactive Social Science 120

Rates of Change 130

Ecosystems 147

Propagate Versus Scale 152

Chapter 5 The Roadmap 159

Community Fabrication: 1 to 1,000 161

Personal Fabrication: 1,000 to 1,000,000 166

Universal Fabrication: 1,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 173

Ubiquitous Fabrication: 1,000,000,000 to 1,000,000,000,000 178

Chapter 6 The Opportunity 183

How to Envision (almost) Anything 185

Predictive Transformation 211

Assembling Assemblers and Pancake Breakfasts 240

Conclusion: Goals and Recommendations 243

Epilogue 251

Acknowledgments 255

Resources 257

Index 273

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