[geoschmo]

[quote]Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

A factory cannot produce just any old thing. It can only produce what it is designed to produce without being completely retooled. A single factory capable of producing anything will probably never be possible.

This could be an issue with symantics. It may be possible very soon (<100 years) to create a small automated "factory" that can produce anything we set it up to produce, but not everything without being retooled as you say. But it could produce a wide range of finished goods without being retooled. The same robots for example could be reprogrammed to build cars or pickup trucks with very minor programming changes. While switching to make 3 piece suits will be a little more difficult.

Also, given another 100 years in the process of laser modeling and you will have automated processes capable of a truely astonishing range of flexibility. Currently it's only used for rapid protoyping and what not, but it's not too far from being able to produce usable assemply line parts. Not quite a matter replicator ala Trek, but not far from it.

Also, there may be truely no limits to what can be done if we are able to come up with some practical nano-technology.

Geoschmo