Print Me A Sandwich!
from the star-trek-reality dept
Mark writes "I read this on New Scientist, and I think there's some potential for serious ramlifications here. What it boils down to is that there's been a lot of progress in 3D printing lately. I know that Chrysler has been using stereolithography stuff for a while, and I saw a miniature milling machine turning AutoCAD drawings into prototypes a couple of years ago. But this article discusses the possibility of using these devices to manufacture, or maybe even distribute finished goods. This would seriously mess with the economic geography and location theory analysis for any type of manufacturing firm. Plus, what if there were a "Napster" for downloadable print files! Company X designs a new toy, which is then distributed via 3D printer. Someone rips the print file and shares it, now every kid on the block has one. Yipes! Still years off and with some obvious technical and economic hurdles, but there don't seem to be any theoretical barriers, so it's mostly a question of time."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Coming soon...
[ link to this | view in thread ]