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model of production and distribution, whereas the isolated Makers and replicators
of
Transmet
and
Star Trek
refl ect two different takes on decentralization of what are
essentially “black boxes.”
Makers
takes these decentralized super-local solutions
and positions them in relationship to more traditional industrial infrastructures,
arguing for the value of cracking open the black box in order to escape the restric-
tions of global manufacturing. Encoded within these technological systems are four
different value systems about the impact of fabrication on society:
Star Trek
optimistically imagines that freedom-from-want will result in a more
egalitarian distribution of goods to all.
Transmetropolitan
argues that people are just waiting for an excuse and an
opportunity to indulge themselves in the extremes of hedonism, something made
much easier by the home Maker.
The Diamond Age
sees replication technology as a way to reinforce social
hierarchies, making the livelihood of the “crass lower classes” dependent upon
the advances of the upper crust. The plot pivots around the introduction of a
disruptive, decentralized fabrication technology.
Makers
argues that fabrication technology can free one from dependence on
systems of production, provided one has the skill and wherewithal to hack
together a solution.
It is clear that when we envision the future of fabrication and replication, our
visions are intimately bound up in how we feel about the economics of scarcity.
Small-scale fabrication is seen as a way of circumventing the dynamics of supply
and demand. Whether or not this results in liberating us from greed and materialism
(Star Trek), reinforcing class distinctions and hierarchies (The Diamond Age), free-
ing us to desire more outlandish and extreme things (Transmetropolitan), or casting
us into a frontier of radical self-suffi ciency (Makers) is a matter of perspective.
Each of these fi ctions also refl ects some interesting fears about the negative
implications of fabrication technology. Paramount among these is the fear that, left
unregulated, fabrication could be extremely dangerous. Both Star Trek and
Transmetropolitan include safeguards on what their fabricators are allowed to pro-
duce. Interestingly, both of these design fi ctions also assign a certain degree of
autonomy to their fabrication control systems—the central computer, in the case of
Star Trek, and an AI personality, in the case of Transmet. The presence of a syn-
thetic intelligence underlying the technology in both of these worlds also minimizes
the presence of a human designer: objects are requested in broad strokes (“Tea, Earl
Grey, Hot”), but the details are left up to the machine. In contrast, both The Diamond
Age and Makers envision societies where the ability to modify, design, and program
is a source of prestige and power. Both of these scenarios argue for the value of a
decentralized, democratized, relationship with fabrication technology, and both
position their characters in opposition to a larger, more traditional industrial
infrastructure.
