Engineering and the Decline of Stuff

Stuff is in decline.  Look at your desk.  The desktop has been replaced by the laptop which will shorty be replaced by you iPhone.  At some point in time, the idea of an actual desk will be challenged.  If the desk gets challenged, then so will the building and all the stuff that makes up a building.  Amazon sells stuff, but it also makes a whole bunch of the retail supporting infrastructure stuff rather hard to justify.  Books, magazines, newspapers - - paper stuff is clearly in decline.  Driving (and hence autos) are in decline.  Keep an eye on your utilization and consumption of stuff.  The history of engineering is the history of stuff.  How we think and use stuff has a profound impact on engineering.

See the blog from Nemo - Link.  From the post:

"The list goes on. If I did an inventory of how much steel, aluminum and the like I consume it has likely gone down a great deal and is comically less than what my parents consumed. Sure I spend a fair bit on services – publication subscriptions, Evernote, gym membership, Fitbit, going out to eat, etc. – but the central fact of my existence is that the material content has gone down markedly all the while my quality of life has improved markedly. It has also become increasingly similar to that of everyone else as Rick Bookstaber has observed."