constant escape
winter withered, warm
Couldn't find a thread about this - 3D printers, 3D scanners, replicating rapid prototyper (RepRap), etc.
I just got a Creality CR-6 SE from kickstarter, using it to print out pieces for an automated microscope (OpenFlexure). Still getting used to what is possible here, what kind of structures are permitted.
Another interesting budget option would be OLO, a smartphone-based tiny printer.
As this trend (3D printers becoming more affordable, more precise) progresses, what could be some of the larger ramifications? Sure, it could effect global supply chains in that a given would-be customer can now print a part rather than order it, in certain cases - but how large a scale could these effects be?
Could the maker trend be, as it is now, the baby steps toward further decentralization of production? Furthering autonomous/independent production? Although I just listened to a talk by Branko Milanovic, where he talked in refreshingly simple terms about capitalism, and its defining characteristics, one of which being decentralized, private production - could 3D printing push this trend even farther?
Or will it remain a side show? A subculture?
If it does prove to have an integral/systemic impact, what might future economies look like, once the 3D printer has been more robustly integrated into all levels/scales of production?
I just got a Creality CR-6 SE from kickstarter, using it to print out pieces for an automated microscope (OpenFlexure). Still getting used to what is possible here, what kind of structures are permitted.
Another interesting budget option would be OLO, a smartphone-based tiny printer.
As this trend (3D printers becoming more affordable, more precise) progresses, what could be some of the larger ramifications? Sure, it could effect global supply chains in that a given would-be customer can now print a part rather than order it, in certain cases - but how large a scale could these effects be?
Could the maker trend be, as it is now, the baby steps toward further decentralization of production? Furthering autonomous/independent production? Although I just listened to a talk by Branko Milanovic, where he talked in refreshingly simple terms about capitalism, and its defining characteristics, one of which being decentralized, private production - could 3D printing push this trend even farther?
Or will it remain a side show? A subculture?
If it does prove to have an integral/systemic impact, what might future economies look like, once the 3D printer has been more robustly integrated into all levels/scales of production?