The Individual Revolution
The Individual Revolution is upon us.
This isn't new under the sky, it seems more like it is the past reemerging (bell bottoms anyone?). But I see the future holding a lot more power for the individual to do things on their own. It isn't that we won't need big corporations to do certain things, but it is that we will be capable to do certain things on our own more efficiently (read: cheaper) than the big centralized systems. The means of production and distribution are moving.
1. Energy Production. This is a big one in my book. The ability to produce energy from your own home and, possibly, sell excess energy off into the grid to power business, local infrastructure and who knows what else. This is happening already.
2. Home Farming & Hunting. And I am not only talking about the ability to use the backyard to grow tomatoes, but something a little more revolutionary - growing your own meat in the refrigerator. The act of growing your own tomatoes in the back yard is awesome, there are companies who will create an organic farm in your backyard for you, or you can go it the traditional route and do it yourself in a square garden, you can do it "naturally," or in the big cities maybe you will buy an indoor farm plot to go along with your apartment.
What is really interesting though is when we begin to learn to grow meat. Already, scientists have grown meat in the lab. We aren't eating it yet, but give it time. Recently there has been a big push to get some of this lab grown food to be palatable (you'd like to enjoy it wouldn't you?). As soon as we get good at this in the lab, it will then move to industrial production and, like all good things, will slowly move to the level of the individual so that you an I can have a Home Meat Producer.
3. Working from Home. This one is has been happening for a while now, and is slowly getting stronger as our technologies and understanding of the processes gets better. Small businesses made up greater than 50% of the workforce in the United States, with greater than 1/3rd of those companies having fewer than 100 employees, according the the US Census Bureau in 2005. As well, in those business that are bigger more and more of these companies are allowing telecommuting because it saves office space, electricity, increases productivity and as a bonus does wonderful things for the environment.
4. Desktop/Home Manufacturing. Imagine printing your iPod? Apple will no longer handle manufacturing and distribution (sorta how they are now a days) but instead will manage design and marketing (we are there already?). We have been using printers for 20 years already in heavy industrial settings but more recently these printers have gotten into the news again because of the dropping price. Most HomeFab units today are envisioned for much more mundane tasks - creating a new knob for a broken stereo or maybe making add-ons for a cell phone.
Who knows what is next in our evolution. One thing we do know is that it will be different from yesterday.
This isn't new under the sky, it seems more like it is the past reemerging (bell bottoms anyone?). But I see the future holding a lot more power for the individual to do things on their own. It isn't that we won't need big corporations to do certain things, but it is that we will be capable to do certain things on our own more efficiently (read: cheaper) than the big centralized systems. The means of production and distribution are moving.
1. Energy Production. This is a big one in my book. The ability to produce energy from your own home and, possibly, sell excess energy off into the grid to power business, local infrastructure and who knows what else. This is happening already.
2. Home Farming & Hunting. And I am not only talking about the ability to use the backyard to grow tomatoes, but something a little more revolutionary - growing your own meat in the refrigerator. The act of growing your own tomatoes in the back yard is awesome, there are companies who will create an organic farm in your backyard for you, or you can go it the traditional route and do it yourself in a square garden, you can do it "naturally," or in the big cities maybe you will buy an indoor farm plot to go along with your apartment.
What is really interesting though is when we begin to learn to grow meat. Already, scientists have grown meat in the lab. We aren't eating it yet, but give it time. Recently there has been a big push to get some of this lab grown food to be palatable (you'd like to enjoy it wouldn't you?). As soon as we get good at this in the lab, it will then move to industrial production and, like all good things, will slowly move to the level of the individual so that you an I can have a Home Meat Producer.
3. Working from Home. This one is has been happening for a while now, and is slowly getting stronger as our technologies and understanding of the processes gets better. Small businesses made up greater than 50% of the workforce in the United States, with greater than 1/3rd of those companies having fewer than 100 employees, according the the US Census Bureau in 2005. As well, in those business that are bigger more and more of these companies are allowing telecommuting because it saves office space, electricity, increases productivity and as a bonus does wonderful things for the environment.
4. Desktop/Home Manufacturing. Imagine printing your iPod? Apple will no longer handle manufacturing and distribution (sorta how they are now a days) but instead will manage design and marketing (we are there already?). We have been using printers for 20 years already in heavy industrial settings but more recently these printers have gotten into the news again because of the dropping price. Most HomeFab units today are envisioned for much more mundane tasks - creating a new knob for a broken stereo or maybe making add-ons for a cell phone.
Who knows what is next in our evolution. One thing we do know is that it will be different from yesterday.
Labels: acusticthoughts, self-sufficiency, the future
posted by AcusticThoughts at
11:52
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