Era Might Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Commercial appeal? Well screw that. I'll take a Star Trek replicator whether someone bills it like that or not. You must not make much, or you'd instantly know that a 3d printer has a gazillion applications for the home, much as an inkjet printer does, but more useful still. A 3d printer would have applications in the wood shop, craft room, or garage. You could make parts to fix just about anything you can imagine. Design your kid a new toy, print it out, boom. Done. Need a different handle on your kitchen widget? Done. Knob broke off the radio in your car? Print a new one. I don't doubt that it has many applications, but whether it is "the next big thing" is a huge question mark. I'm not convinced we're a society of do-it-yourselfers. Maybe we are, but it will have to be proved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 (edited) Also, a 3d printer can't be compared to a smartphone because a 3d printer is a peripheral, not a general purpose computing device. Given that software already exists to turn your smartphone into a 3d scanner using the onboard camera and gyroscopes, you really could use a 3d printer to make a duplicate of anything you find with no prior knowledge of CAD software. Exactly...a peripheral, which may limit its potential in the mass market. Edited August 24, 2013 by Era Might Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicsAreKewl Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 (edited) Also, a 3d printer can't be compared to a smartphone because a 3d printer is a peripheral, not a general purpose computing device. Given that software already exists to turn your smartphone into a 3d scanner using the onboard camera and gyroscopes, you really could use a 3d printer to make a duplicate of anything you find with no prior knowledge of CAD software. I know much less about this. Does it cost more to get the hardware/software to accurately duplicate items? http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/researchers-develop-flexible-metal-for-3-d-printers/?_r=0 ^ It seems like they might be using this for 3d printers in the future. Are there any affordable 3d printers that can print metal at this time? Edited August 24, 2013 by CatholicsAreKewl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Well, that depends on how you define cost. Something a lot of people don't realize is that software costs are a tradeoff between what you want to learn and what you want to pay for. There is extremely good open source software for running 3d printers, in fact, the best on the market is currently open source stuff. The tradeoff is you need to be willing to learn how to use it, it doesn't hold your hand. The good part about this though is that by actually learning how the control software for your printer works, you can really push the limits of your hardware and be in complete control of every aspect, which IMO is a really big deal. Also, as for mass market, I am not old enough to remember it first hand, but I know from my hobby of collecting and using very old computer equipment that the old computers by DEC and IBM and Zilog and Kaypro and such were definitely not mass market computers. Absolutely not. These 3d printers aren't either. They're going to be special equipment for a long while before they "go iPod." Personally I think that's a good thing, the people who really really care about the tech will be able to invest in it and guide it for many more years before it all turns into printing out 3d lolcats, or whatever we'll be doing with them in 2024. :P As for printing in metal, nothing exists for the hobby or home user... yet. At the moment if you want to fabricate in metal you'll find it's much cheaper to go with a CNC multi-axis mill, although complex shapes like replacement joints for implantation (or klein bottles, hehehe) can't be made this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 How the hell does one maintain such political views in Canada? Resignation to the Divine Will. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Exactly...a peripheral, which may limit its potential in the mass market. Inkjet printers sure do OK in the mass market, so I imagine a 3d printer will do just as well once they find ways to make it dork-proof and shiny and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicsAreKewl Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Resignation to the Divine Will. :P It's definitely a nutty view to take over there I imagine. That makes it all the better, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 It's definitely a nutty view to take over there I imagine. That makes it all the better, though. Technically I never said that those are my views. :| They are, more or less... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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