Neil GershenfeldReseñas

This book "When Things Start to Think" has been on my husband's bookshelf for years and I never thought about reading it. With recent discussions about AI, I decided to pull it off the shelf and start to read it. Reading this book, published in 1999 through the lens of 2023 eyes, I realized how prescient Dr. Neil Gershenfeld was. Through these pages, he talked about computerized fashion - such as smart watches, health/exercise meters, how the inanimate objects (computers) become animate through the information they glean and learn from us the end users.

As I read each page, my eyes appreciated more and more Dr. Gershenfeld's work, his mind, and kept wanting to read on. Now I want to read his other works.

A compelling book about how technologies are now at a point to allow us the move away from mass production to individual problem solving and creation, using laser cutters, 3D printers, computers and software.

This book considers how the industrial revolution has almost gone full circle.

From the early days of artisan and craft production, to the massive factories that can turn out numerous copies of the same item, the future of production will start to be possible from your desk or office.

He considers the new rapid prototyping machines and looks at the way the developing world can use these tools to make their own lives easier. The author goes into some detail on some basic projects that anyone can undertake.

It’s not too bad, but technologies have moved on swiftly since it was published, and I think that Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson will give an more up to date point of view

I had looked at this before. I'm not nearly as excited about this as this guy is. This isn't ' moleculr fabrication ' keep in mind. It's machine tool computer control , basically shop class the internet. Very vague overall ( the whole thing still is really )

I had looked at this before. I'm not nearly as excited about this as this guy is. This isn't ' moleculr fabrication ' keep in mind. It's machine tool computer control , basically shop class the internet. Very vague overall ( the whole thing still is really )

"... un tempo la composizione tipografica era una carriera per un compositore qualificato, che si occupava di accostare caratteri di piombo e non aveva certo a disposizione una scelta di menù in un programma di elaborazione del testo. Potrebbe darsi che nel mondo della fabbricazione personale il destino dell'ingegneria sia quello di diventare una competenza condivisa smettendo di essere una carriera specializzata." (p. 199)
Libro affascinante ma non di pura divulgazione. Interessanti i raccondi di persone e casi di applicazione dei Fab Lab, ma se non si possiede una formazione tecnico-scientifica la parte più tecnica non è sempre facilmente comprensibile.

Tutto sembra possibile, basta immaginarlo, disegnarlo e con l'aiuto del plotter laser e di una macchina di taglio a idrogetto si può dare forma alle proprie idee nei " fab lab " del MIT. Secondo l'autore, l'era della fabbricazione personale e' iniziata ... peccato che non se veda (ancora) traccia nella vita di tutti i giorni.

Gershenfeld, who runs MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, foresees a time when computers will upgrade from PCs to PFs, or personal fabricators. This eye-opening survey of "fab labs" completes the progression in Gershenfeld's earlier studies of the overlapping of computer science and physical science, such as When Things Start to Think (1999).

The title of this book as well as certain passages describing the 'Home of the Future was very enticing. There were too many digressions into only tangentially-related areas though.½

This book was alright. I like the idea of the democratization of content going all the way to the democratization of the production of content.½

I liked this book; although I read it about 4 or 5 yeats ago and I can't remember everything in this book. I find the prospect of the "internet of things" coming to pass to be a little bit of a 2 edged sword. The nefarious aspect of this is that he is essentially writing about RFID tags on everything. His newest book is a lot cooler. Read this book to find out about a possible Big Brother future where technology can be used against the people. Read his new book, "FAB", to read about a much brighter future where technology is used to empower people.

I can't wait for the era of personal fabricators -that is the topic that this book is about- to dawn. The subtitle of this book summarizes this book nicely: "The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication". Yet, I feel anyone who decides to read this must be forewarned: it will drive you crazy that this technology isn't readily available right now. Imagine a device that enables you to download and print out 3d items just as you download software and print out pages now. That's what this book is all about. In the future, people will manufacture their own goods and we really will have mass customization. If this interests you, I recommend that you read this amazing book!