An alternative way of distributing a book: rather than going through the normal distribution channels, just give some away. Ask the recipients, if they don’t find the book to their liking, to please pass it on to someone whom they think would like it. And ask them if they do like it to consider purchasing a copy to give to someone else.
In fact, encourage them to give away one to three copies, depending on how much they liked the book.
If the book is well-liked, it will go viral. If it is not it will fizzle out almost immediately. This is a test-case for the Gift Economy, albeit an incomplete one.
This may be the model we use for distributing The World Transformed: the Abridged Edition.
If not, I think I will try it out on a subsequent book.
Researchers and practitioners are making dramatic progress in producing usable human tissues via (highly modified) 3D printers. Although we aren’t there yet, eventually we can expect to see whole kidneys, livers, hearts, and lungs produced in vats or via printer-like devices. These will be a godsend for patients who otherwise would be looking for an organ transplant (no danger of rejection when it’s your own organ.)
One of the models for associating individual wealth with productive output in an economy that is predominantly (if not completely) post-labor is to apportion ownership of companies across the population. This could be a matter of distributing shares of existing companies or granting shares or exclusive ownership to new companies.
The technology already pretty much exists to recreate classic movies with a computer-generated version of you replacing the star. This could be extended to include your whole family or circle of friends. (Do It’s a Wonderful Life for Christmas for example.) Or you could leave some of the original actors in place, depending on who you want to swap classic lines with, share a steamy love scene with, etc.