Hand-made high-tech

Adrian Hurt:
>>Dan's Traveller Mailing List Mail [email removed] writes:
>>
>>I think one would have to know what your definition of hand made was.
>>I believe there is a car manufacturer in the south U.S. that hand
>>manufactures limos (Blackhawk?). In this case all parts are indivdually
>>fitted, milled, etc. But using a drill press or a lathe isn't really
>>hand made is it?
>
>I assume this society does allow the use of tools, otherwise they wouldn't
>have progressed past the Stone Age.  In fact, they wouldn't have even made
>it into the Stone Age!  Using a flint knife isn't really hand made, is it?
>:-)
>
>If the objection to mass-production is philosophical, what they may demand
>is that an individual - or even a single group - be responsible for the
>entire production of a given item.  And the maker(s) will take some pride
>in their product, to the extent of embellishing it a little - signing it,
>decorating it, or in some other way adding an organic touch.

Spot on, Adrian. That is exactly what I had in mind.


Scott Kellogg:
>As to the ability to hand make stuff, it depends on your definition
>of hand made.  Your TL 3 tools would be hand made.  With those tools
>one makes TL 4 tools.  With those, one proceeds to make TL 5 tools,
>6...7...?  With your philosophical preference for hand made stuff,
>sounds like a crew of craftsmen who would be very protective of
>their tools (They'd have to be to build the planes, TV sets (starships)
>you seem to want them too.)
>
>But, would your definition of hand made allow them to use a tool
>(machine?) that would grow silicon chips?  Would it allow them to use
>a tool (machine?) that would allow them to etch a silicon chip?
>All one is doing is using a very sophisticated tool.  It is not a
>"Factory", but is it a tool, or a machine?

Depends on how the machine is used. If it turns out identical chips by
the dozen it's a no-no. If the craftsman can look at one of his chips
and say: 'Yeah, I remember that chip, that's the one I made last Tuesday',
then it's ok.

James T Perkins:
>Dan? writes:
>>I think that this type of culture is interesting, however. What happens
>>to visitors to the planet?
>
>[email removed] writes:
>>That's what I want my players to find out some day ;-) They get treated to
>>anything from a cold shoulder to physical abuse, depending on the bigotry
>>of the native.
>
>If the world is fairly isolated from regular offworld traffic, there
>will probably be people very eager to leave as well, like any
>restrictive society needs an escape valve. Witness the number of
>Pennsylvania Dutch children who leave the community to make their way in
>the big city in popular society, or people from small towns or students
>from the 3rd world who never go back. Or people from Eugene Oregon who
>leave for Portland or Seattle (I can sure see why :-).
>
>Or think of the two characters from _Doc_Hollywood_ who wanted to leave
>their home town and go to LA. The young lass would have done nearly
>anything to get Ben Stone to take her with him. Maybe an idea for a
>plotlet in there. "Back to the Interstate, Ben Stone".

A very good idea, James. I shall certainly include an encounter with
someone like that. Thanks.


THOMS, KEITH:
>From Dan Corrin...
>>I don't think that any electronic components could be hand made.
>>(depending on your definition). It would be pretty hard to even make
>>vacuum tubes by hand (which of course includes televisions). A lot
>
>  What about gray areas like imported electronic parts that are then
>hand assembled or even just custom packaged?  An end user is typically
>more interested in what the product looks and feels like than what's
>inside.  Nobody would know but the repairman, and who do you think
>would be fixing a one-of-a-kind design anyway?

Absolutely contrary to the law and the prophets, but these people would
have the same proportion of rouges and iconoclasts as any other human
population. So a local villain buying such evil stuff off the PCs would
be a definite possibility.



      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     [email removed]
- ------------
        "A  subsector  official  pompously states that the
        subsector  armed  forces  have  four Kinunir class
        ships in service,  each with enough troop strength
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                        ---Adventure 1, The Kinunir