Icar manufacturing technology

[Onix]

With such an advanced timeline, the manufacturing of equipment and even vehicles would likely have some marked differences from techniques today. One near future difference to take into account is the 3D printer. In our children's lifetime I would expect to see this move from a niche technology to mainstream. What would happen to this over a 90,000 year timeline?

In truth, in 90,000 years technology would be unrecognizable and probably unimaginable. Ask Jules Vern, I don't think he would have understood all the implications of an internet forum; a technology that sprung from a technology (internet) that sprung from a technology (computers) that sprung from a technology (transistors) etc.

Back to the core idea, Icar would likely have highly advanced 3D printers. These things would be able to do all the things that people are using them for today and obviously more. So what are people using them for today? Making new items. Making replacement parts for broken items. Printing body organs. Printing circuitry. Printing buildings. Someone just used one to print the body panels of a car.

As the fidelity of the printers go up, they will be able to do more. Maybe even down to placing individual atoms. Sure that's pretty far off right now, but so is 90,000 years. If you can place individual atoms, you can form molecules on demand. You can make near perfect crystals including diamond out of carbon. Diamond makes a great circuit substrate.

Next we're printing microchips in seconds because they can be tiny and they're cheap and ubiquitous. Then you can have things like smart dust where microscopic chips make up a sensor net.

Some of these things are hinted at in the Icar books. They don't have to be explicitly explained but it opens up possibilities that don't seem to be accounted for. Like cheap replacement limbs and organs. Like if you need a weapon, you just have it printed and its available in a few minutes or hours dependent on how big it is. Then there's the possibility of custom life forms printed on the spot. Sure it's far fetched now, but Icar far flung.

This is mostly meant as a thought exercise where physical things are not scarce commodities. It changes how a society acts and opens up a lot of revolutionary concepts.

I don't know if this would dovetail into Rob's ideas in Icar, or conflicts.

[misterecho]

Arthur C Clarke's 3rd law of prediction; "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

90,000 years is a LONG time, especially considering Moore's law of exponentiation hardware improvement. It's unlikly that humanity can sustain such development as our current methods will become limited on the atomic level.

Goodness knows what will happen that far ahead.

But to be honest it's much easier to roleplay in an environment which is recognisable and in some way familiar.

[Onix]

Of course there are hints of technology lost in wars and then there's StarSci (or Startech?) that is said to only release tech when people are ready for it. However that's not going to stop individuals and corporations from developing tech.

It's impossible to think of a world that is unimaginable (by definition) but you also don't want a world of high technology that is outstripped because it misses a recently emerging technology (like Star Wars not really getting computers right, fortunately for them they're not dependent on Earth history). I'd say 3d printers are one of those emerging techs that could significantly change things and leave a sci-fi world of the future looking silly because it didn't mention them.

[DOC_Agren]

or to use another game system. Battletech their computers are the computers of the 80's gone forward!!

[misterecho]

I was running a Star Wars game once, a PC was locked in their ship with someone knocking on the door. The Player asked me, "can I see them through CCTV or something?"

sorry... no...

it's strange to see such an analogue version of the future. Look how many switches Darth Vader has on his chest. It looks old not future!

[Onix]

Not quite steampunk, not quite diesel punk, Low tech computer punk? 80's punk (sounds awful)? What would you call a lack of sophisticated computers?

Still that obviously doesn't apply to Icar.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

I think its Retro-SF if that is consciously part of the setting, or pulp SF if its the classic stuff. Retro-Punk is more a clothing style.