Gershenfeld's FAB: Personal Fabrication

I have posted on work by Neil Gershenfeld and MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms a number of times, in particular about his work on personal fabrication. Now he has extended his previous writings in this area in his new book FAB. Its all about building fabrication labs (fabs) driven by desktop computing. The result would be a very cheap means to construct designs, prototypes and actual products. Testing of many of the ideas come from an MIT class called How to Build (Almost) Anything. He does an excellent job linking this to the history of related technologies. In particular it matches well with computer printing technology, which translates bits into printed documents.

He makes the analogy that modern computer printing started with simplistic dot matrix applications, but can now cheaply reproduce high resolution photographs. I recall speculating at the time that we should be constructing 'origami' printing systems, where you folded paper into other objects. The basic idea is the same, but Gershenfeld is using much more sophisticated construction devices, such as laser cutters and milling machines. Instead of buying a product, you are sent a design specification, and your personal fabricator builds it. Or perhaps you design it yourself.

Less clear to me is actual practicality of such a method to address real designs ... I am not a designer, and have not worked with any fabrication system, so its hard to guage its abilities. His examples in Ghana and India are interesting, but I can't see how such relatively complex things can be constructed by such simple means. Some of the examples he uses remind me of things I saw at the MIT Media Lab, unfortunate in that they may turn-off some people with their oddity. Though not a deeply technical book, you will need a strong technology interest to like this book. This is an area that will likely evolve further, the book is an instructive overview, and is well worth reading. Businessweek review.