This gave me an idea for American manufacturing. Although we can’t undercut Chinese wages, the price per part can be minimized via high throughput reconfigurable automation.

An initial proof of concept might involve CNC mills, laser cutters, pick-and-place machines, or even 3D printers. However, as the concepts and methods mature, it is not difficult to imagine the addition of reconfigurable roll-to-roll assembly of the majority of the complex innards of products, requiring no human interaction whatsoever. The throughput of such a factory would be staggering…

http://blog.mocality.co.ke/2012/01/13/google-what-were-you-thinking/

OpenStreetMap sabotage

http://opengeodata.org/google-ip-vandalizing-openstreetmap

Here is the answer.

1. Divide.

The idea that there is such thing as a problem that is infeasible due to technical complexity is an illusion. Everything that appears complex is recursively made up of simpler components, and once you know those components — the fundamental concepts that anchor the problem (and potential solution) in the realm of possibility — the illusion vanishes.

The trick is knowing what these components are or knowing someone who does – the more knowledge you have here, the further you can progress before encountering an indivisible sub-problem.

2. Conquer.

Once the problem is broken down into its fundamental requirements, it’s much easier to understand which parts are easy or already solved, which may require some research, and which are new.

A problem is almost never unique although it may appear unique on the surface. By pattern matching on historical work, much of the solution complexity can be delegated.

So, now what’s left is a set problems that you’ve never seen before.

3. Play.

Playing with new problems is often the quickest way to become acquainted with them. People tend to get caught up in analysis paralysis or worrying about the “correct” way to do something. This is all overhead to finding a solution.

Get dirty, make mistakes — the path to a novel solution is not paved.

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

I proceeded to enlighten the person who pioneered their use in computer graphics… Oops!