In a change of topic, but still related to this question of making material sense of our digitized commerce and communication, the cover story of Wired magazine (which, by the way, is one of four magazines I subscribe to in print -- so fun for bus rides!) is about how a decade of "open source" software development is turning into the phase of open source manufacturing. Check this video out:
In other words, you no longer need to own a factory or be a giant business to manufacture items you've just dreamt up, but if you have the proper design skills (or even just the software) you can custom produce almost anything these days. The result is that we have a much greater ability to make our visions -- as producers, consumers and artists -- a reality.
How does this relate to us? I believe that we have spent, say, a decade or more unlearning how to write and send letters, shop for things in stores, make useful hand-made gifts, get creative inspiration in museums and theaters, and visit home for Sunday dinner with our families, as we have moved many of those basic human cultural activities into the world of digital bits and on-screen facilities. It follows, then, that the next logical step in this process is to democratize the bringing and sending not just of information, but of the tangible atoms, i.e. things that make us happy (and that we happily make). What do you think? What does the next ground-breaking phase in communication look like? What gives turning bits into atoms momentum in our world of blogs and poetry?
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The Wired video raise the question: why support anything locally when you can have it produced in China for nothing. why bother starting a production company, learning a craft, binding a book, when the Global outscourcing can take care of it in minutes?
ReplyDeleteWhy make peacefull Lego blogs when som morons are going to strap weapons on them? That's a frightening outlook. And yes, my spelling sucks!
Believe me, I've thought about this, too: New cheap stuff from China; toy soldiers for weapons-obsessed young men...
ReplyDeleteI suppose the difference I see is that given that cheap manufacturing in China is simply a fact that won't go away (plus, there are actually many small factories in the U.S. catering to the same DIY design crowd), it is now SMALL American businesses that have the chance to produce things they and their customers really care about, rather than multi-national corporations simply producing and marketing stuff that we mindlessly put in our shopping carts but don't have a hand in creating or even really wanting. In that sense, this movement IS helping local businesses be creative and cost-effective while also taking advantage of the kind of global economic pathways that are becoming stronger and more open as time goes on.
But you raise another point, which is making me think: the difference between design/production and practicing a craft. I don't have any clear ideas about this yet, but it makes me wonder about the difference between you designing something you care about and having someone make and send it to you from China, and, say, Kat using pens, paints and paper which are produced God knows where as well and then sending her crafty letter to me on the other side of the continent.
There's something here about global pathways, energy use, natural resources, creative labor and human rights that intermingling in this dilemma... Thanks for raising these provocative points!
(And, yes, my sentences can be really long!)