I have become fascinated with the Library of Congress series on the digital future. I strongly encourage you to visit this site and view the series.
The final presentation happened to be on C-SPAN last night. The presentor was Neil Gershenfeld, the director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT. As an academic, I always wonder how other academics get these exotic jobs. Several JNDs difference in productivity I assume. The Gershenfeld Presentation rambles through many topics. If you are willing to wade through the entire thing, you will eventually encounter his description of computer-controlled fabrication as a tool for production and learning. There are implications in this description for alternative educational models – learning by doing, learning by making. See if you don’t have the same reaction.
