Will an automated future create a secondary market for hand-made goods?

[LordKiran]

This is something I was thinking about when pondering how computers can create music and what that would mean for the creative future of our people. Would media or art made by machines have to be clearly labeled as such? And would that media be seen as inherently less valuable if made by a computer? If we apply this train of thought to the economy as a whole, will robots actually remove people from the labor force or will it create a second market partly removed from the mainstream economy for goods made by hand, spurred on by a reactionary mistrust for machines and nostalgic appeal for things done "The old fashioned way"? To a certain extent this has always been the case but will a mechanized and digital future expand this even further?

 

[Will Wiley]

This is something I was thinking about when pondering how computers can create music and what that would mean for the creative future of our people. Would media or art made by machines have to be clearly labeled as such? And would that media be seen as inherently less valuable if made by a computer? If we apply this train of thought to the economy as a whole, will robots actually remove people from the labor force or will it create a second market partly removed from the mainstream economy for goods made by hand, spurred on by a reactionary mistrust for machines and nostalgic appeal for things done "The old fashioned way"?

I buy handmade things because I often find them more beautiful not because it is the "old fashioned way". I think they are often more sturdy too.

beautiful things add to the quality of life

 

[Toni]

It already has.

 

[Deepak]

http://m.shop.nordstrom.com/s/made-solid-medium-leather-wrapped-stone/4497177

 

[TV and credit cards]

Sure. Artisans and craftsmen will always do what they do. I think the wild card will be income. Will enough people have the money to support them? Will the craftspeople be able to sell their wares with little regard for profit?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Sure. Artisans and craftsmen will always do what they do. I think the wild card will be income. Will enough people have the money to support them? Will the craftspeople be able to sell their wares with little regard for profit?

Well, if not, they can just get a robot to make their crafts for them and go get a job to support themselves. The idiot customers won't know the difference.

 

[dismal]

Sure. Artisans and craftsmen will always do what they do. I think the wild card will be income. Will enough people have the money to support them? Will the craftspeople be able to sell their wares with little regard for profit?

Well, if not, they can just get a robot to make their crafts for them and go get a job to support themselves. The idiot customers won't know the difference.

Maybe if it's a handmade artsy-craftsy robot.

 

[Bronzeage]

Sure. Artisans and craftsmen will always do what they do. I think the wild card will be income. Will enough people have the money to support them? Will the craftspeople be able to sell their wares with little regard for profit?

It's more about resources than income. A person who has the skills to make the necessities of living doesn't need a lot of money, if resources are available. A potter has to have clay, water, and fire wood. Quite a lot of firewood. Skilled people can fall back onto the barter economy, provided they have resources.

If there is no access to resources, we form gangs and use our skills to loot the houses of the rich.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

This is something I was thinking about when pondering how computers can create music and what that would mean for the creative future of our people. Would media or art made by machines have to be clearly labeled as such? And would that media be seen as inherently less valuable if made by a computer? If we apply this train of thought to the economy as a whole, will robots actually remove people from the labor force or will it create a second market partly removed from the mainstream economy for goods made by hand, spurred on by a reactionary mistrust for machines and nostalgic appeal for things done "The old fashioned way"?

I buy handmade things because I often find them more beautiful not because it is the "old fashioned way". I think they are often more sturdy too.

beautiful things add to the quality of life

Handmade = expensive = quality materials have much less effect on the price.

 

[ZiprHead]

Lots of places around here to buy Amish made furniture.

 

[Bronzeage]

Lots of places around here to buy Amish made furniture.

Lots of people buy Ikea furniture, which I am told is made by elves.

 

[Deepak]

Lots of places around here to buy Amish made furniture.

Lots of people buy Ikea furniture, which I am told is made by elves.

In fact there are services for having others build your Ikea furniture, which melds the mass produced nature of the good with the appreciation for fine artisanal human labor.

 

[Bronzeage]

Lots of people buy Ikea furniture, which I am told is made by elves.

In fact there are services for having others build your Ikea furniture, which melds the mass produced nature of the good with the appreciation for fine artisanal human labor.

I've taken jobs like that. It's always for someone who has used my services for something more complicated or strenuous. They are always embarrassed when I have their entertainment center assembled and in place in about 20 minutes. I take my time. I will say this for Ikea, they are the only "thing in a box" retailer which I have never had to repair or modify in order to put the thing together.

My second wife was an ardent catalog shopper. I remember a brass headboard, in which the holes on one side were in the reverse position. I wondered what happens to people who don't happen to have drill and a 3/8 bit handy, when their bed arrives in a box.

Ikea furniture is designed to fit in a box and it serves it's purpose, as long as leave it in the same room where it was unpackaged. It's not made to be carried down a flight of stairs and put on a truck. This is why you see so much of it on the curb when someone is moving out. It didn't survive the trip out the front door.

The genius of Ikea is the box. It's furniture you can buy and take home on a bus.

 

[Deepak]

In fact there are services for having others build your Ikea furniture, which melds the mass produced nature of the good with the appreciation for fine artisanal human labor.

I've taken jobs like that. It's always for someone who has used my services for something more complicated or strenuous. They are always embarrassed when I have their entertainment center assembled and in place in about 20 minutes. I take my time. I will say this for Ikea, they are the only "thing in a box" retailer which I have never had to repair or modify in order to put the thing together.

My second wife was an ardent catalog shopper. I remember a brass headboard, in which the holes on one side were in the reverse position. I wondered what happens to people who don't happen to have drill and a 3/8 bit handy, when their bed arrives in a box.

Ikea furniture is designed to fit in a box and it serves it's purpose, as long as leave it in the same room where it was unpackaged. It's not made to be carried down a flight of stairs and put on a truck. This is why you see so much of it on the curb when someone is moving out. It didn't survive the trip out the front door.

The genius of Ikea is the box. It's furniture you can buy and take home on a bus.

Some of their stuff would actually surprise you, if it's assembled properly. My nightstand and TV console, both from Ikea, survived the move into my current place no worse for wear - not even as much as developing a squeak.

Now an Ikea bed I probably wouldn't trust (in general or to survive a move). There's a reason they have that folded metal crossbar which beds made from real wood don't.