Bru63

I have seen a similar set of advances and concerns in my advertising and graphic design career. When computers first took hold in the field, everyone was amazed at the capabilities—and crap—that came out of them. As pointed out above, it's the user, not the machine. One aspect of design that suffered initially was typography—the design of typefaces. This is an area of graphic design that traditionally required very high levels of design skill and commitment, not unlike the fine woodworking seen by those who read Taunton's Fine Woodworking and other "Fine __" magazines. But, once people learned how to use, manipulate and advance the technology even more, a new age of grace and beauty in type design (and design overall) came about. And it wasn't amongst old-timers only. In fact, arguably the finest type designers today are young people, led by Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, whose work rivals that of any type masters in history.

I think CNC machines will bring about a similar renaissance in woodworking and other types of design and manufacturing. In fact, I think CNC machines are going to revolutionize manufacturing to such a degree that manufacturing jobs are going to flow back to the USA. What makes me think so? Several factors will combine to make it happen:
• A large number of skilled machinists and artisans who are out of work, and want to use their skills; who better to use these machines than people who have the traditional skills?
• The relatively low cost of setting up a CNC operation in one's shed, workshop, or basement
• Just-in-time manufacturing policies make proximity more important than cost (it might be cheaper to make something on another continent, but then it takes 2 weeks to get it here)
• When skilled people are out of work long enough, the attitude of "what have I got to lose" will take over, and the $5,000 or $25,000 they need to invest will seem like chump change compared to the dismal prospects of continued unemployment. We'll have a HUGE number of people becoming self-employed who would never have considered self-employment otherwise.

Just watch—things are about to get exciting in the USA again.