On 22 Oct 2001, at 13:17, Steve Schear wrote:
One of the great long term hopes for nanotechnology is the "cornucopia" or StarTrek replicator, a device which can "manufacture" from raw materials and information a broad variety of consumables and hard goods. If it ever does come about and is not something centrally controlled and monitored a 'la Stephenson's Diamond Age, it could usher in an age of individual sovereignty the likes of which the world as not known since its transition from hunter gatherer to agriculture. It might also spell the end of economy.
I'm reminded of George O. Smith's "Venus Equilateral" stories, in which invention of the replicator did end the economy, until a substance was discovered ("Identium") that could not be replicated. It seems that markets appear whenever there is something of perceived value to trade. -- Roy M. Silvernail Proprietor, scytale.com roy@scytale.com