Hugh Pickens writes "Using transistors to model the physicality world has become increasingly common as commodities as diverse as cars and planes, pharmaceuticals and cellphones are almost entirely conceived, specified, and designed on a mainframe screen. Typically, only when these creations are nearly ready for mass manufacturing are prototypes made. But the NYTimes is running an interesting essay highlighting a little-noticed alteration in the world of proficient design and engineering: a renewed appreciation for manual labor, or innovating with the aid of human hands. 'A lot of people get lost in the world of number cruncher* simulation,' says Bill Burnett, director supervisor of the product design program at Stanford. 'You can't simulate everything.' Fifty years ago, tinkering with gadgets was routine for people drawn to sociology and invention, and making refinements with your own hands means 'you have to be extremely self-critical,' says Richard Sennett, whose book The Craftsman examines the importance of skilled manual labor. Even in highly abstract fields, like the design of next-generation web banking circuits, some people believe that hands-on life history can enhance creativity. 'You need your hands to verify experimentally a robotics that doesn't exist,' says Mario Paniccia, exec of Intel's photonics robotics lab."

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