This is a fictional account of future nanotech development by a fictional company named Xyvez Corporation, not to be confused with the real company, Zyvex Corporation, which is currently developing the precursor technologies to nanotech.
A scenario of nanotech development.
Xyvez Corporation, located in Texas, invents the first molecular assembler. It is Immobile, fixed to a ten ton granite substrate to minimize external vibration, consists of one six axis head, 3 auxiliary carbon nanotube piece positioning arms, controlled by an external desktop computer, and can operate in solution or vacuum.
Xyvez engineers use it to construct the first fully mobile assembler nanobot. The assembler nanobot uses broadcast architecture. The engineers instruct the nanobot to replicate, it takes 4.5 minutes.
Truckloads of Tennessee coal start arriving. In five hours there are trillions of nanobots. Almost anything could be used for raw material, even the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, although the scarcity of it would slow the process. Coal was chosen because it is almost all carbon, and there would be less waste.
Xyvez engineers instruct the nanobots to construct a seven stage industrial nanotech manufacturing facility, on a four acre site adjacent to the laboratory. It takes the nanobots less than 20 hours. The truckloads of coal keep arriving. The industrial nanotechnology facility makes an unending stream of Xyvez marbles.
An Xyvez marble is the size of a regular marble. It is solid, optically flawless diamond, except for the word 'Xyvez' in the center. The use of Lomar discontinuities crosslink the atomic strata preventing any cleaving planes and resulting in 50 times the strength of steel. All Xyvez marbles are atomically precise and identical.
They are packaged 25 to a clear plastic bag, and shipped by semi tractor trailer truck to Wal-Mart and Target distribution centers, at a cost to the retailers of 25 cents per bag, with a suggested retail price of one dollar a bag. The cost of production and packaging is 3 cents per bag of marbles.
One of the byproducts of the process is chemically pure sulfur, which is sold to a chemical company at market price.
The novelty of the Xyvez marble results in runaway sales to children across America and other counties. The Xyvez Corporation announces that it is ready to accept offers for licensing of their industrial nanotech manufacturing process.
Xyvez technicians disassemble the original molecular assembler and ship it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. The Federal Trade Commission notifies Xyvez Corporation that exporting nanotechnology violates laws prohibiting the export of advanced technology with possible military applications. All foreign countries immediately protest the decision. China threatens WWIII if the decision is not reversed and starts forming a coalition of countries.
Several high profile high tech companies join forces in a patent infringement suit filed in federal court against Xyvez. The stock markets of the world all halt trading due to sudden dramatic drops in share prices as a result of investor uncertainty.
President Bush in an emergency television address to the world says he is confident that a peaceful negotiated solution can be reached on nanotech policy, and that the U.S. military has the capability to make any coalition of opponents immediately regret any aggressive actions against U.S. interests.
A federal judge denies the high tech company's motion for an immediate stay against Xyvez. Xyvez offers a one half of one percent of net licensing deal to any company that signs a three year contract within thirty days. In thirty days Xyvez has signed contracts with 92% of domestic manufacturers and 70% of foreign manufacturers pending export approval.
The U.S. government agrees to the formation of an International Commission on Nanotechnology Safety administered by the United Nations security council. The UNICNS adopts a two pronged approach, preventing nanoweapon creation, and destroying nanoweapons which rogue nations or terrorists may release into the environment in the future.
To accomplish the first they institute policies to restrict nanoassembly to monitored production facilities and monitored on-site construction. All nanoassembly is mandated to use broadcast architecture. An International Center for Nanoassembly Design Approval is formed to check safety of all nanoassembly designs prior to production.
All nanoassembly manufacturing systems are equipped with encrypted controllers to accept only encrypted instructions approved by the ICNDA. Secure communications are established between the nanomanufacturing systems and the ICNDA. Anyone may submit a nanodesign to the ICNDA via unsecured internet communication.
To implement the second prong an International NanoForce is established to field monitor nanomanufacturing facilities, proactive intelligence gathering on nanothreats, and a nanoswat team to deal with nanoemergencies.
Software makers give highest priority to development of high level nanoproduct design tools. People to use these design tools become the most sought after segment of the workforce, commanding high salaries and luxurious working environments. Many would telecommute over the internet from anywhere in the world.
The first products to take advantage of the new process are computer chips and other electronic devices particularly communications. Next are precision mechanical devices and components such as lenses, bearings, small gears and microscopic instruments. Also early on are products requiring super strong materials, including applications in large structures and transportation.
As products migrated from standard manufacturing to nanomanufacturing the most expensive per pound items moved first with prices dropping by orders of magnitude. Within a year computers had increased in power by a thousand fold while price and size had reduced by twenty fold.
Many areas of research and development are accelerated by the high power and low cost of the computers and instruments and machines available. Robotics, AI, and genomics finally had the tools they always wanted.
By the end of the second year ninety percent of all products are nanomanufactured with price more a function of size and weight than complexity . By the third year it is one hundred percent.
A large percentage of the population has found new employment opportunities in design and information creation.
For the first time in history no one on the planet is going without basic necessities. The only taxes are production taxes and through them the public becomes a partner in the means of production, a true Marxian dream realized. At the same time the opportunities for entrepreneurial free market activities have never been greater.
Many of the historical conflicts between nations and ethnic groups have been ameliorated by the economy of abundance and governments and peoples around the world are becoming closer and more trusting. Totalitarian states peacefully transition into democracies. Crimes statistics drop as deprivation disappears.
Life is good.
Singularity Action Group website frames version.