"I chuckle when "looking back" is critiqued as inaccessible - sure, especially in the decorative arts, we cannot make those products affordable when its creators want to earn a decent living by today's standards, but so often their labor-intensity was precisely the point. Common craft skills are things that almost anyone can make, with minimal capital investment. It's mostly not scalable in the sense that "I" can't make it at scale to sell to everyone else. The Shakers, members of the Arts & Crafts movement were still looking for ways to conspicuously feature the human labor input. Joiners featured "marks of good craftsmanship" that often featured guild secrets. "Primitive" techniques are, by definition, accessible. Ironically, I think Nakashima is an excellent example of navigating the economies of making simple, beautiful, durable furniture: they use machine turned spindles, and departing from the aesthetic of large slabs, they generally use seats made from a panel made from several boards.  So much craft had to change in response to economics of machinery: ex. building with sawn lumber instead of riven lumber. Today's technology should be able to serve the opposite goal: identify and produce materials suitable to intermediate-skill (as opposed to de-skilled or guild/artisan) manufacturing techniques. A designer closer to the build-process, rooted in place, is most certainly a scalable model (just not in the sense that any one business entity could capture most of the value). I look to body shops as an analogy: you want your bodyman to be local not because you expect to visit them frequently, but they know local styles, practical considerations with climate and road conditions. If you mention a car in the area you'd like to emulate, not only have they probably seen it, but they've already spent some time thinking about it. A builder-designer in a city may well consider the flooring, the size of doorways, height of ceilings, etc.."

"To provide a micro-economic example. I myself am a clinician. What stethoscope do I own? A 3M Littmann Cardio IV; remarkably expensive. I'm absolutely certain there are better values on the market, but I cannot justify the time finding it. My time is best spent practicing medicine. Similarly, the Welch-Allyn thermometers are ridiculously expensive and are "calibrated" to only use their own brand's probe covers. But until someone can present me a compelling case that another market entrant is of comparable quality, I won't be spending the time to find it."

"I read this article a little while back as I plan to shift more towards handtools. I would've have no doubt that JM would be tremendously knowledgeable; it's definitely worth noting that it seems this course effectively used evidence based learning techniques (whether intentional or not). Spaced repetition, immediacy of feedback, scaffolding component-skills, teaching self-evaluation. These are of kind of things featured in K. Anders Ericson's research on deliberate practice."

"I'm inclined to argue that the most effective point of intervention would not be to design a more affordable gaming cart but rather a means for healthcare systems' procurement offices to better navigate the marketplace.When you think of all the potential hazards/liabilities introduced by any fixture that ends up on a hospital floor, they want reassurance. It's not enough that a product is well designed, but that it's verifiable for being safe. Certifications and brand reputation are costly - there's seldom a way around that. A similar challenge has long plagued the organic foods markets - many producers are organic, but can't justify the price of certifying it. Or, they cannot connect to the right distributors, so they sell their organic product into the conventional supply chain (coffee epitomizes this issue).It's worth mentioning that while that space may not seem competitive, premier healthcare systems typically aren't the most price sensitive customers. Meanwhile, many community healthcare systems are seldom in a position to purchase niceties at all. A purchasing officer in a cash-strapped org will sooner go without, than stick their neck out buying a new entrant in the marketplace."