Look it up anywhere: everyone describes Sears catalog homes as pre-fabricated. So your categorical insistence is contradicted by actual usage. If that makes you uncomfortable for whatever reason, feel free to use whatever term you like, so long as, on actual matters of substance, we understand that we’re talking about homes where some significant portion of the construction is done off site.
Are IKEA dressers pre-fabricated? I would say that having plans, everything cut to size, and all the hardest parts done for you counts for a lot.
For Sears catalog homes, everything in the kit was measured, cut, numbered, and packaged in a factory, including electrical and heating, and the kits were advertised as easy and fast to build for people with no expert skills. Pre-fabrication is a spectrum, and all pre-fabs require some degree of construction on site.
Pre-fabricated homes are not all mobile homes. I wrote this elsewhere, but a lot of those charming 100 year old homes on the east coast and midwest are pre-fabricated Sears catalog homes.
Yeah, I suppose I’m questioning even the potential. Some technologies don’t pan out, which is why we’re not all riding around on our Segways. Underestimating future technology is certainly one risk, but the other risk is assuming every technology is inevitable progress.
Given how new this is, I doubt anyone knows how much this will cost at scale, even the manufacturers.
modular houses are nice, but they’re all similar to each other
I’m not so sure. New American and Canadian houses are famously similar to each other. We build big neighborhood blocks of almost identical looking track houses. If I could, instead, order a house from online catalogs, that might actually increase aesthetic diversity.
We used to have more diversity in housing styles, which is why older neighborhoods have lots of different home styles. But a lot of those 100 year old neighborhoods are actually full of Sears catalog homes. Basically, pre-cut, pre-fabricated modular homes!
But then you need to do significant construction with that material. And it’s not just one material: there are pipes, electrical, insulation, flooring, etc. It’s only replacing a few admittedly major parts of the material. Everything else still takes tons of labor. I could be wrong, but I’m not convinced the labor savings are greater compared to modular housing.
Is 3D printing houses a gimmick? Why not good old modular houses made in factories and shipped?
I could be wrong, but that’s not been my impression at all. The last few releases of all their operating systems have been pretty light on whiz-bang features, but fairly stable. I haven’t noticed any problems, much less anything “dire”. I hate their new settings app on Mac, but that’s more of a design decision, not a bug.
That’s a theoretical issue. In actuality, I haven’t faced anything close to windows level pop ups. I think Apple has struck the right balance personally and I would definitely not want to go back.
Ugh that sucks. Adding gaming functionality to a device shouldn’t make it less repairable. Minecraft can on a smart fridge or smart tv.
Actually, why does this loophole even exist? Because game consoles use a razor blade business model, console makers are already incentivized to make their consoles last as long as possible. Most people don’t replace their console for a decade.
Yes, strong agree! Medium density is also the most affordable to build per square footage, compared to low density detached single family homes and high density super tall glass and metal towers.