>So, we have self-replicating nanodevices (assembler-fields) anyway.
>In the book is it very likely that the designs for them are not in
>the public domain and only used by the manufacturers of MCs, but it
>is not a perfect protection against runaway replicators. Stephenson
>simply ignores this problem, but it is clear that in order to get a
>widely usable, cheap nanotechnology you need replicating assemblers
>if only in the factory.
Of course nanotechnology assemblers may require factory conditions. A
replicator that can't work in the presence of oxygen or cosmic rays isn't
going to gray goo this planet, but could be very handy in the appropriate
factory.