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I feel that the same could have been said after/during the industrial revolution. When the tools to enact change become so large that no one person can build a

I feel that the same could have been said after/during the industrial revolution. When the tools to enact change become so large that no one person can build a product (whether that be a vehicle, or a desktop computer), there will be someone warning that our dependence on technology is increasing. Not that I don't agree with Woz, but I think it helps put this in perspective. If the internet or our power grid had some massive failure how easily would life continue? Would businesses continue to operate? Supply chains for food and production? These are important questions, in my opinion.

electromagnetic 16y ago
> When the tools to enact change become so large that no one person can build a product (whether that be a vehicle, or a desktop computer), there will be someone warning that our dependence on technology is increasing. That's not correct, vehicles are regularly made from beginning to end by a single person (the Ferrari Way). I think what you mean is that an average person can no longer be expected to construct 9/10ths of what we believe we use during a day. (I'd argue you use a chair, which is still easily constructed, far more than you use a computer or a television. Our arses basically migrate from chair, to chair, to bed.)
- trafficlight 16y ago
  Maybe a Ferrari is assembled by one person, but it certainly wasn't manufactured by one person. So that doesn't really count.
  - electromagnetic 16y ago
    Now you're playing technicalities. No one since 0 AD has likely manufactured something solely by themselves, because a carpenter building a house wasn't making his own nails and hammers and saws. One person can easily manufacture a whole vehicle, no question about it. A chinese man hand-built a (somewhat) replica Lamborghini in his basement; an Italian man built his own supercar sans the Audi V8 engine; and people regularly build small engines, and this guy built most of his own V8 bike engine: http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2010/04/15/bmw-with-694cc-homemade-v8-engine/ http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2010/04/15/bmw-with-694cc-... So I'm sorry, but it's easily capable. I wouldn't argue automobiles, because by the simplest definition an automobile is very easy to self-manufacture given that a vehicle doesn't require windshields, doors, lights, indicators, anything. One man today can still easily (with time) construct their own home from ground up. I helped lay a 30'x30' cement floor with nothing but a shovel, mixer and barrow. Beyond that the house is easy and I've literally done everything else from brick laying to electrical and plumbing to siding and framing. Like I said, an average person cannot do these things today.

electromagnetic 16y ago

> When the tools to enact change become so large that no one person can build a product (whether that be a vehicle, or a desktop computer), there will be someone warning that our dependence on technology is increasing. That's not correct, vehicles are regularly made from beginning to end by a single person (the Ferrari Way). I think what you mean is that an average person can no longer be expected to construct 9/10ths of what we believe we use during a day. (I'd argue you use a chair, which is still easily constructed, far more than you use a computer or a television. Our arses basically migrate from chair, to chair, to bed.)

trafficlight 16y ago
Maybe a Ferrari is assembled by one person, but it certainly wasn't manufactured by one person. So that doesn't really count.
- electromagnetic 16y ago
  Now you're playing technicalities. No one since 0 AD has likely manufactured something solely by themselves, because a carpenter building a house wasn't making his own nails and hammers and saws. One person can easily manufacture a whole vehicle, no question about it. A chinese man hand-built a (somewhat) replica Lamborghini in his basement; an Italian man built his own supercar sans the Audi V8 engine; and people regularly build small engines, and this guy built most of his own V8 bike engine: http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2010/04/15/bmw-with-694cc-homemade-v8-engine/ http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2010/04/15/bmw-with-694cc-... So I'm sorry, but it's easily capable. I wouldn't argue automobiles, because by the simplest definition an automobile is very easy to self-manufacture given that a vehicle doesn't require windshields, doors, lights, indicators, anything. One man today can still easily (with time) construct their own home from ground up. I helped lay a 30'x30' cement floor with nothing but a shovel, mixer and barrow. Beyond that the house is easy and I've literally done everything else from brick laying to electrical and plumbing to siding and framing. Like I said, an average person cannot do these things today.