: I only mentioned the CNC approach when asked if the guide : bushing/template method was the only way the job could be done and if : there wasn't an easier way.
When I was growing up we thought that by the year 2000 we'd have flying cars and video wrist communicators.
I was putting a DVD away the other day and realized that if I had seen a DVD player back on the 60's, I would have thought that I had walked into an episode of Star Trek.
I don't have a video wrist communicator or a flying car, but I carry a phone that displays a picture of the person who's calling. My friend has one that accepts voice commands ("call Judy at home"). All of us have access to a library full of reference material at our fingertips: Google "prime minister Uganda" and get the answer in a few seconds (Apolo Nsibambi, from Wikipedia).
I work in a school that has programs in robotics, digital media, and bio-engineering. 18 year olds grumble over homework assignments that were just science fiction when I was 18.
We really are living in the 21st century. When Morris mentioned using CNC, I chuckled to myself. Think outside the box, sure, but it's pretty ridiculous to suggest using computers to cut wood.
And then a I realized that I not only had access to a CNC machine, but one that used a laser for cutting. Morris didn't mean it seriously, and I didn't take it seriously, but by a bizarre coincidence it was actually a good suggestion. How weird is that?
It just made me stop for a minute, imagining what I would have thought of all of this when I was a kid.
--- Chip