Quote :

"you;ve been watching too much Star Trek"

I was thinking he's been watching too much The Jetsons

1/30/2008 12:16:18 PM

Excuse me

But are you advocating products be distributed for free?

*by the way, Star Trek had monetary units too.

[Edited on January 30, 2008 at 12:17 PM. Reason : >.<]

1/30/2008 12:17:15 PM

i thought star trek had those replicators where you can just create any random piece of shit you wanted.

1/30/2008 12:21:30 PM

Replicators can generate a lot of things but their use required proper 'credits.'

The economy of Star Trek is not really even defined in any sensible fashion so it shouldn't be really used as a comparison for anything.

However, the federation did issue 'UFP credits' as monetary value and Gold-pressed Latinum (LOLRONPAUL) was also a very coveted monetary unit.

1/30/2008 12:34:10 PM

Quote :

"But GV, the price system already handles the 'infinite production' eventuality: the price drops to near zero. So we do not need to do anything; we don't need to abandon money, we don't need to change how people think, we don't even need to pass a single law. Two companies will develop nanofactories and compete fiercely until the price of compatible products is mere pennies. Such an eventuality would make money worth more as a dollar buys far more things, not less."

I more or less agree with this. While I think you're too generous to capitalism as it functions now, personal nanofactories should indeed increase standards of living under the price system. Freitas predicts that they'll decrease the price of nondurable goods by a factor of five and durable goods by a factor of a hundred. Nanofactories could theoretically do better than that, but companies will want to make a profit. Perhaps more importantly, government regulations and intellectual property rights will limit the technology. As they can make almost anything, nanofactories are bound to be heavily regulated by the state.

You can read the Freitas analysis here:

http://www.rfreitas.com/Nano/NoninflationaryPN.pdf

Quote :

"i thought star trek had those replicators where you can just create any random piece of shit you wanted."

Personal nanofactories will be like that, but slower. They'll require feedstock and energy, of course.

[Edited on January 30, 2008 at 2:16 PM. Reason : fail]

1/30/2008 2:16:14 PM

I don't think so. The only regulation the government could put on them would be to limit what they can make. But it will be a computer, hackers on the internet will easily circumvent any restrictions placed upon the machines they disagree with. It will be just like current enforcement: the laws will be on the books, but police and procecutors will only bother prosecuting people which use the technology to harm others (replicated explosives) and those they dislike.

1/30/2008 6:48:14 PM

^ Again, that's about right, though I wouldn't bet on easily hacking a personal nanofactories. Considering the weapons they'll be able create, I doubt any government could tolerate the threat that comes with being too lax. Hacking will happens, but I suspect penalties will be severe. Downloading or hosting weapon plans will get you hard time. This isn't like violating copyright. The public will be terrified that next school shooter could have diamondoid armor and fire explosive bullets that don't miss.

1/30/2008 7:20:10 PM

Quote :

"you;ve been watching too much Star Trek"

So you wait until AFTER I post the picture on page 1 to give me the straight line into it. Thanks.

1/30/2008 10:58:24 PM