Off the rack may be out in the future, not just for clothing, but for cars, homes, and even medical treatments.

The development of computer technology and Internet communications has created a new kind of industry: designer options for the consumer ranging from fashion to pharmaceuticals. Already, shoppers can log onto one of any number of websites, plug in a few measurements, and order a pair of jeans, a dress, or a pair of shoes created individually according to the shopper's specifications. A number of car manufacturers will let buyers log on and choose from a generous menu of options from car and interior color to front-wheel or all-wheel drive, CD and satellite radio options, and more. Modular homes can be ordered over the Internet with the same wide-ranging menu of options, from the number of rooms to wall color and flooring choices.

Soon, medicine is hoping to be able to tailor treatments to the individual; using an advanced understanding of the nature of various illnesses, at least partly based on computer analysis, they hope to develop medical tests which will help them create medications and other treatments for bacterial and viral infections and even cancers, based on the individual patient's biochemical makeup. The hope is that treatments in the future will be more effective and cause fewer side effects.

While some claim that our increasingly mechanized and computerized world is becoming more and more impersonal, in some areas at least the opposite is true: Consumers are able to make choices, impossible a few years ago, that reflect their individual tastes and needs, and may someday even save their lives.