Three-Dimensional Home Printers Could Disrupt Economy | Hacker News Reader

Three-Dimensional Home Printers Could Disrupt Economy

foxnews.com

8 pointsgibsonf18 comments

It will be fascinating to see this play out. My wife creates resin sculptures ( http://camilleart.com ), and I know firsthand how time-consuming the process is. With a 3D scanner, she could sell her figurines online and let people print/decorate their own, like Munny ( http://www.kidrobot.com/html/munny3/gallery.html ) except with no fabrication, storage, distribution, middlemen, or shipping... literally just a website and some ultra-cheap bandwidth. An artist's dream!

I wonder if these printers will become cheap/efficient with the same speed that computers and websites did. If so, what a fascinating time that will be, when the digital world can yield tangible, three dimensional results.

At the same time, reading stories like this, I think back to some of the hilarious Popular Science stories I've read about hoverboards and robot assistants...

I think this is more real than hoverboards :) I'm looking forward to printing out architectural models (of the building kind) myself when the price is right.

Hehe, yeah, but I've just read so many stories gushing about all these totally crazy things which will happen in -- wait for it! (but not too long) -- THE FUTURE. And a lot of them have seemed practical/obvious/awesome, but in the end, they either never happened, or didn't come close to expectations. The problem is, obviously, that predicting the future is a fool's game, because your chances of getting anything right seem to decrease exponentially with the reach of your prediction.

The Segway for example -- remember that insane buildup in 2001? 'IT' was going to change the world -- a technological revolution, over a decade in the making by a mad scientist living on a secluded private island. Steve Jobs said it was going to be as big a deal as the personal computer, and one of the most-bandied-about bits of PR claimed that it would be the basis of future cities.

Not that Segways suck or failed miserably, but man, that was some weapons-grade hype.

Anyway, I'm not really that pessimistic about this, just trying to temper my enthusiasm. While waiting to see how the 3D printer market turns out, I guess I'll check up and see when my standard-issue flying car will arrive...

I think with the Segway it was a different story, though: it was not widely known what it would be, there were only a few sources spilling the hype as you described it. It was simply an issue of marketing. With 3d printers, everybody can form their own opinion.

God, I hope they do disrupt the economy.

3D printer demo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps0WEZbDjHE

up to 10x10" metal parts from files downloaded from myGun.com...

I guess the 1st amendment will only apply to states too, soon.

foxnews.com? really?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com