Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!emory!gatech!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!nanotech From: autodesk!peb@uunet.uu.net (Paul Baclaski) Newsgroups: sci.nanotech Subject: Re: First Steps to Self Sufficiency Message-ID: Date: 6 Dec 90 07:53:43 GMT Sender: nanotech@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 88 Approved: nanotech@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , ems%nanotech@princeton.edu writes: > ENERGY > > I think that the first step toward individual self-sufficiency > would have to be your energy supply. I don't know about you, but my biggest bill is for rent, not electricity. There are no indications that rent/mortgages and taxes will disappear with nanotechnology. Certainly, it will be possible to live almost anywhere, assuming you can afford the telecommunications costs (perhaps communications will be the number one expense). > CLOTHING > >Wasn't there once a clothing industry? The clothing industry would evolve into a software industry. Most clothing making is computer controlled now and having a clothing maker in your home means you could simple download the software instead of going to the store (although you will want to preview the stuff before buying it). Note that this assumes that having a clothing maker in your home is economically viable. The main advantage of having it in your home would be that transportation/distribution costs would be saved. You must assume that the raw materials are available to make this work. > SHELTER > "Housing starts" drop to nearly zero, of course. Zoning will be an impediment here--the total effect of a neighbohood is a common resource that can be afflicted with the Tragedy of the Commons problem. Some places have no zoning now (e.g., Houston) while some have too much zoning (plus homeowners associations that are truely evil). Of course, one could take matters into one's own hands with a cyberspace home--it might look simple in reality, but with cyberspace clothing, it is anything you want. (E.g., The Futurlogical Congress, by Stanslaw Lem). > COMMUNICATION > > Whither the phone company? I'm sure the phone company will be happy to provide high bandwidth communications for a price. > > HEALTH/MEDICAL > > Also a tough one. If the knowledge acquision problem is solved, having medical expert systems is not far fetched... > INCOME > > The advent of nanotechnology is bound to do drastic things to the > economy. So many industries will collapse that it will look like a > deep depression by all standard measures, even while the average > person's standard of living is actually shooting up out of sight. In general, it does not make sense to assume that all industries affected will disappear--manufacturing industries will turn into service industries that provide software for your equipment. The people who will have a tough time adapting are the poorly educated and the people who have jobs that can be easily automated. Entertainment is likely to be the biggest industry of all--and there is no indication at present that it can be automated (even if it could be automated, there is not clear that that would be an advantage). >From: hibbert@xanadu.com (Chris Hibbert): >In the case of food, it's even more obvious that the >user has to be able to handle a task that can't be made simpler than >programming the VCR, which I'm told is beyond many of the consumers >you'd need to sell to in order to make a reasonable size market. Sad but true. However, picking out clothes from a catalog of software designs should be pretty simple. The current generation of video game playing kids will probably find vcr controls pretty simple, on the other hand. Paul E. Baclaski peb@autodesk.com