Technolog

But bear in mind that ten years ago there were something like half a dozen personal websites on the whole internet. As you’ll discover on p140, there are now close to 100 billion blogs and over 12 trillion personalised MySpace sites. Millions upon millions of people are being astoundingly creative via a medium they couldn’t previously have used, simply because the proper tools to use it weren’t invented.

With us spoilt Westerners having the luxurious ability to become increasingly concerned with constructing our own environments, there’s a market here massive enough to make the emerging discipline of “desktop fabrication” a reality. A few academic groups – most notably the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Bits and Atoms (no, really) – are working on devices based on the principles of inkjet printers and industrial rapid-prototyping machines to create 3D fabricators. These “print” 3D objects, building them up a layer at a time. Imagine saving the trip to IKEA to buy a new lamp by designing your own and printing it at home. Sounds ludicrous? Tell me that again in ten years. If I’m wrong, I’ll make you a wooden duck.