3D printers are going to change the world - and the future of work for everyone

[Flaxbee]

Manufacturing jobs as they used to exist are never, ever, ever coming back. Not just because of robots on the assembly line, but because of 3D printers that will allow you to make much of what you may ever want or need at home.

You may scoff at the capabilities of these printers now, but give them a few years and see -- just like the evolution of the computer -- only this will be much, much faster.

No one, NO ONE, not politicians or economists or anyone else, is talking about the radical social change that will result from the further development and use of 3D printers. Everyone seems to just think 3D printing is "neat". I think this avoidance it is largely because of fear, because no one really knows what will come next once 3D printing becomes commonplace in the next decade; they can no longer really talk about "jobs" in the old sense (though they continue to do so) -- there is too much change coming too quickly, and no one knows what this means for our traditional labor structure. And obviously, this impacts not only the US, but every country where manufacturing provides jobs -- a huge majority of those global jobs will evaporate, too. Governments may actually have to start seeing humans as valuable in and of themselves, not because of the hours they work and taxes they pay (what a concept!) An entirely new social structure will need to evolve, and quickly.

There is even a company in Missouri using 3D printing to print meat. Food. This effort is in its infancy, but again, give it a few years.

Need a new pair of shoes? Print them - and don't worry about child labor in Malaysia. Need a new shirt? Print it. Want a cheeseburger without the guilt of factory farming? Print it. Need a set of bookshelves? Print them. Want to create a new toy for your kids? Print it. Need to repair your water heater? Print a new one, or a replacement part. Need to build a new home since yours was destroyed by a tornado? Print one. (This requires a good-sized printer, but 3D printing is being used to print homes: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/3d-printer-could-build-house-20-hours-224156687.html )

This will also usher in, hopefully, an incredible era of innovation and creativity where the average person can not only conceive, but actually build/manufacture new products without having to flail around in the frustrating venture capital markets.

This is "additive manufacturing" (as opposed to "subtractive manufacturing" which is what has been the norm for centuries) and it is going to change the world, hopefully for the better. Industry will try to resist, just because industry always resists new developments that could render it obsolete, but in the long run, 3D printing is going to win.

Here are 10 at-home 3D printers; some cost less than your average new set of washers/dryers:
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/3d-printers-10-machines-for-home-manufacturing/6379767?tag=content;siu-container#photopaging

[a geek named Bob]

1. Got one...

When the paper work for my thesis is done, I'll be cobbling it together.

NOTE: the real change is when the 'printers can have swap out heads, and not just work with ABS/PLA/and weak poly plastics...

Bob, an Original Geek from the Old School.

[TheDebbieDee]

39. These 3-D printers sound as though they work like replicators in the Star Trek universe.

Hmmmmmmm.

[TeamPooka]

40. beam me up

[a geek named Bob]

42. I met a guy that built

a food printer.

So far, it only works with cheese paste, buillion, sugar, and "green paste," but that's still pretty cool. (the "green paste" seems to be mostly Kale, Spinach, and Spirulina)

I'm holding out for a machine that will make me a jug of "tea, Earl Grey, hot" and a bowl of spicy white chicken chili.

[kestrel91316]

2. Somebody's smoking crack.

[Flaxbee]

19. Of whom do you speak?

Not me, this is real. Check out the links.

[kestrel91316]

76. Not you. Any tech geeks or product promoters who think

printing out meat or houses is ever going to happen outside of a drug-induced hallucination.

[Flaxbee]

85. not true. It is happening. If you would wish that "printable" organs were

possible to save lives (and this is being worked on), why not take it a step further to print meat and reduce horrific suffering?

If you accept the advances in and by nanotechnology, that's just part and parcel of 3D printing.

Home elements - walls, floors, counters, doors - are also being "printed" - why wouldn't this work? It's just "additive" manufacturing where things are made layer by layer, rather than "subtractive" manufacturing, where you cut down a tree and make a chair. Subtractive manufacturing leads to enormous waste. Additive manufacturing is much, much more efficient.

You understand that human tissue is grown for purposes of skin grafts, experimentation, etc.
So why not organs? And if organs, why not meat? It's just a matter of complexity - what the tools we have can build - and advances in technology.

[kestrel91316]

115. I'll starve to death before I'll ever eat any substance "printed" by a machine.

[Marrah_G]

116. I am sooo right there with you

[Flaxbee]

121. But would you accept a "printed" heart in a transplant?

Same thing.

A "printed" kidney to save a loved one?

"Printed" meat is the same thing as "real" meat, only minus the slaughter and misery.

Edited to add: I am not against meat consumption; if the animals are raised well and slaughtered painlessly, go right ahead and have your burger. But that is really not the way the industry operates. And the environmental cost of producing just one burger is staggering:

ONE hamburger takes 6.7 pounds of grain, 52.8 gallons of water, 74.5 square feet of land, and 1,036 Btus of fossil fuel energy for feed production, according to a recent NPR study.

Do you really want a hamburger that badly at such an enormous environmental cost? Really?

Well then, how about you go in for a 3D meat burger?

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4394165/Today-s-special--3D-printed-meat-?cid=NL_EETimesDaily

Fire up the grill for the latest in 3-D printing. Modern Meadow, a Missouri-based start-up has secured backing from billionaire Peter Thiel’s philanthropic foundation to create printable meat.

“If you look at the resource intensity of everything that goes into a hamburger, it is an environmental train wreck,” said Modern Meadow co-founder Andras Forgacs in an interview with Mashable.

<snip>

Take those numbers and multiply them by the 26.4 billion pounds of beef that was consumed in the US in 2010 and the environmental burden becomes catastrophic.

Despite these fact Americans, myself included, refuse to give up our love affair with our favorite meat.

Enter 3-D printing to save the day. Modern Meadow hopes the same 3-D printing technology currently being used to create medical grade tissue can be used to provide food for your table, without the environmental impact.

[kestrel91316]

131. I am a veterinarian with a degree in microbiology. I consider

this whole thing with respect to living tissue/organs a PIPE DREAM. You aren't going to print things out and have them magically become living tissue.

[Flaxbee]

135. that's why I recognized you!

Hope you are well.

My sister is a veterinarian with a PhD in comparative pathology, and she begs to differ

[Politicalboi]

94. Did you watch the video?

Houses yes, meat, I would find that one further in the future.

[sofa king]

100. Wait a few years and see.

Once those things can build their own replacement parts and benefit from constant world-sourced improvement, their numbers will follow a hyperbolic curve, not unlike the number of Internet users exploded in the '90s.

Their proliferation is limited really only by the raw materials necessary to make themselves, because each self-replicating printer will be a friggin' gold mine for its owner and selling copies of the machine will make some early adopters fabulously wealthy.

Make them illegal, and I think they will expand faster outside of regulatory constriction, causing great damage. Aside from some catastrophe I cannot easily envision, I don't think anyone can stop it from happening now, so we'd better get used to it fast.

It's going to be an interesting test of each society's ability to peacefully govern itself, because anyone who wants a gun will be able to print one. Who the hell knows what else people will do with them, but for certain, manufacturing is coming home, as in home to your garage.

[FSogol]

143. +1. Plastics!

I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Yes, sir.
Are you listening?
Yes, I am.
Plastics.
Exactly how do you mean?

[dawg]

3. Nope. Just expensive toys.

Like tablets, these things will be fun and will actually have some practical uses. But they won't be gamechangers.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

11. They will be so much more than that. Do a little more reading on the subject. nt

[dawg]

16. I don't need to.

I know how much money I spend on physical objects that a machine like that could print, and it isn't very much. I can only think of a few, very limited things that I would use something like this for. Printing shoes similar to Crocs might be nice, although I don't currently have or want any shoes like that. Maybe a nice, custom coffee mug. Not much else I can think of.

I have read lots of the hype because I'm an investor and I'm always looking for the next big thing. But I think this is less "personal computer" and more "segway".

[Flaxbee]

20. This isn't just for your desktop, this is the entire manufacturing industry. It's ADDITIVE

manufacturing, where products are built by layers, not subtractive, where you take a hunk of a raw material and whittle it down until you have a product.

The ability to additively manufacture is revolutionary.

You, personally, might not have the need, wish, or creativity to make something on your desktop. But many will.

And it isn't just individuals - this is going to revolutionize the entirety of manufacturing for people and for companies.

[dawg]

27. Well, that still falls far short of changing the nature of work for everyone.

Most of us don't work in manufacturing anyway. And while I can see how this technology could be useful in certain industries, I don't see it being nearly as transformative a technology as the current hype would indicate.

The biggest advantage that I see is the abiltiy to print custom parts on-site, reducing the need for transportation and warehousing in certain industries.

In my line of work, this technology would not be all that useful. I could print a new straight edge if my old one broke.

We already have very efficient machines for efficiently fabricating the parts that we need. The biggest difference is having the flexibilty to quickly reset and make something different.

[Flaxbee]

55. But globally - think of all the manufacturing jobs in Asia that will vanish

Might not be all of them, but if people are able to buy printers to make their clothes or household goods - once the price of these printers comes down - there will be far fewer manufacturers needed.

I hope this puts a premium on human-based work. Creative work. But with billions of people on the planet, society will need to structure "work" for people who don't have higher skill sets, either because of lack of training and opportunity or ability.

Right now, many of those people work in factories. When the factories go ... what then?

Really, increasing efficiency and automation is going to eliminate millions of jobs. And what will need to replace them is work that values humanity, not stuff.

[dawg]

58. You're not thinking of all the different materials everyone would have to have

on hand for their printers in order to make anything more than just monolithic lumps of plastic or metal. Just stocking up on all the different cartridges would be astronomically expensive. Even a relatively simple device like a toaster consists of many, many different materials and components.

It isn't that I don't appreciate the potential in new technologies. And I don't want to be Johnny Raincloud. But I have seen people get fleeced so many times investing in the next big thing that I want to make sure someone is inserting a dose of realism in this conversation.

[Flaxbee]

66. I know. I work in technology, too, and have seen many

good products go by the wayside because they don't fit in with a fad, and many fads produce nothing but crap.

I think this is "for real", though.

I completely agree: the issue of "ingredients" is going to be very interesting. The printers are easy. The stuff to stuff into the printers is a different matter, and will that stuff be heavily regulated so as not to totally disrupt our current economic structure? Will it be regulated heavily? Or will it be, like the Internet is (or was, depending what you think), a great leveler of the playing field?

And all of this just touches on home units. Eventually, this will completely alter our industrial structure. Will that alteration benefit individuals, or only corporations?

[uncle ray]

141. you're thinking about it all wrong.

one machine will not be able to do it all. picture instead, a factory just like a machine shop, instead of rows of milling machines and turning centers, you have rows of printers cranking out whatever part is needed, with zero setup time. at the end of the rows are robots assembling the parts the "printers" manufactured.

[dawg]

145. No, that is exactly how I'm thinking of it.

I'm only arguing that this is not going to be a great "in-the-home" technology. People are acting as if we will someday manufacture most of our own goods via the use of these printers in the home. It isn't going to happen.

[Logical]

106. LOL.....I think you are very short sighted......

Xerox surveyed businesses about the copier and business said they didn't need a copier. It was because they didn't have one and were thinking the current way, not the new way. Once they had one they found reasons to use them. Same with the 3D printer. We don't realize yet what people will use them for. I would doubt your closed mind.

[RadiationTherapy]

18. Houseprinting.

http://inhabitat.com/print-a-house-in-24-hours-with-robots/

[Flaxbee]

68. I think this is such

an exciting idea... all of it, really.

Thanks for the link

[BlueStreak]

41. Maybe some day

Right now, they are capable of producing objects that look roughly like something, at a cost about 100 times higher than normal plastic molding, about 1000 times slower, and about 10,000 times less structurally sound and with a maintenance profile that is nowhere near the level needed for commercial systems.

Of course the technology could progress, but I don't see this as being a significant economic factor for awhile.

But what if it does? If is fundamentally no different from CNC lathes. Somebody has to program them. Somebody has to operate them.

[nichomachus]

52. You are so wrong

Tablets are major game changers. Many large corporations are reworking their IT systems to work with tablets. I study this market sector. Real estate companies, financial companies, insurance companies, even major league baseball, and manufacturing companies are all moving toward tablets for a large part of their staff. They are not toys nor fads. They are an integral part of many major corporations today. And about 85 percent of the companies making this change are standardizing on iPads.

[dawg]

53. Wait and see.

[nichomachus]

57. I've seen -- you just wait

Tablets have unchained workers from their desks. People in a warehouse can enter data without having to run back to a terminal somewhere. Managers can actually interact with office systems while sitting in an airport and without having to balance a laptop on their knees. Baseball scouts can enter data while sitting in the stands, in the back of a taxi, or at home.

Laptops changed the way business operated -- and now tablets will replace the laptops.

I was in a restaurant recently that used iPads as the menu. It was brilliant. You could see pictures of everything. You could expand food items and wine choices. The restaurant can put the specials right on the menu on the fly, so you don't have to listen to a recitation and then try to remember them. They can also remove items that aren't available that day. No reprinting of menus -- or handing out outdated menus to half the party.

[dawg]

59. Tablets are okay ...

Once you get a wireless keyboard and mouse for them.

I have a tablet. I like it.

It isn't useful for work in the slightest. I won't even use it to post on DU because it is too cumbersome.

[nichomachus]

62. Well, I'm sure industry will change it's mind

once it hears of your personal experience.

I'd like to hear you offer some fact, figures, studies, or even anecdotes to back up your opinions.

[dawg]

72. I have a pretty good track record with these things.

Don't get me wrong, I think tablets are here to stay, but they will never replace a fully functional PC for anything other than a niche use or as a media reader. The lack of a keyboard makes them too cumbersome for most office work, and the technolocial adaptations required to correct for that result in something that is no longer just a tablet. A lightweight notebook with a touchscreen can do everything a tablet can do, plus actually function as a computer as well.

I have read articles about compainies supplying tablets to workers in Japan, and the workers not using them much for work, but that is anecdotal at best. I'm not saying there are no uses for these devices, but they are overhyped and will not be a transformative technology - except perhaps in the way we check facebook and play angry birds.

The business world is quick to jump onto technological fads. In the 90's, every MBA worth his salt had to run down and buy a $500 Palm Pilot. Nevermind the fact that you could achieve the same functionality with a pen, a binder clip, and a pack of notecards. Now, smartphones have rendered them obsolete.

Smartphones actually are a transformative technology. But I don't think tablets are. They are less functional than notebook computers.

[kysrsoze]

101. So Wrong

One of our doctors' offices is using tablets to bring up stored patient info and present information, terms of service and some forms to patients. They are also being used a lot in point of sales areas, like my company's retail locations. I see them in the local corner stores, presenting customers with frequent shopper benefit interfaces. They absolutely have their place in business, and those who don't realize it will lose money in hardware cost efficiency and in new ways of doing business. And keyboards are less important when entries and notes can be dictated, as well as writing recognition via styluses.

[dawg]

109. I said they have niche uses.

And you just described some niche uses for me. I'm not saying they aren't useful at all. I'm just saying that they are no replacement for a fully functional computer. Their uses are mostly limited to accessing data and making very small changes to that data. Anything more than that, and you need a keyboard and a mouse.

Geez. Lots of people are really emotionally invested in this technology. I truly don't understand that aspect of it. To me, it's just another tech item and a somewhat limited one at that.

I do think they would make good replacements for the cumbersome textbooks that the kids have to lug around, but I doubt there will be the will in the U.S. to spend enough money to make the change, except perhaps in the richest school districts and at the college level where they can force the students to make the purchase.

There are plenty of ways these things can be used, but that doesn't make them a truly transformative technology. The PC was a truly transformative technology - like the automobile. If anything, tablets are more like motorcycles. Which is still a good thing, you know.

[Hugabear]

103. People once said the same thing about cars, planes, TV, computers, etc

For almost every "game-changing" piece of technology we take for granted nowadays, there were naysayers who said that they would never be practical when they were first being developed.

[Logical]

108. +1000, so true. Closed minded people were left behind.

[unblock]

4. for some of this, the question is, what's the "ink"?

if the difficulty is shaping something into proper form, then 3d printers at home is a big advantage -- i guess you just pour in some plastic pellets and out comes a plate or a cup or a small food storage bin. very convenient.

but what's the "ink" for printing meat? maybe there's a soy-based paste that works for fake meat, but i don't know what actual animal product would work for "real" meat. and even then, you'd have to buy that "ink", and that somehow has to be cheaper, enough to justify having a meat printer at home.

so i see the use at home as somewhat limited, although certain things, especially plastics, could easily go that route.

[Biafran]

13. No, you don't buy the ink

You print it.
After printing a spare printer, just in case.
Then you print yourself a new girlfriend to eat the meat with.

What a load of tosh.

[Flaxbee]

30. Please don't be so close-minded

This is incredible technology. This can be life-saving, life-improving technology.

Take a few minutes and read.

[Flaxbee]

23. read this article (link inside), from The Economist

Truly, it is not a joke.

Understand a little organic chemistry? Understand that we can cultivate cells, grow cells for lab experiments?

Use that material to make food. Or fabricate cells individually using nanotechnology.

These aren't soy products, this is real meat. Animal proteins have a specific molecular structure. Use that = print meat.

From the article: http://www.economist.com/node/21552903

"Some researchers are already using 3D printers to produce simple living tissues, such as skin, muscle and short stretches of blood vessels. There is a possibility that larger body parts, like kidneys, livers and even hearts, could one day be printed—and if the bio-printers can use the patient's own stem cells, his body would be less likely to reject the printed organs after a transplant.

Food can be printed too. Researchers at Cornell University have already succeeded in printing cupcakes. The “killer app” with food, almost everyone agrees, will be printing chocolate."

**********
This is in-freaking-credible stuff. It's real. It is the future.

And if you really understood the true cost of cattle ranching - you'd understand that this was a much more economically and environmentally sound option.

Here's another article:

ONE hamburger takes 6.7 pounds of grain, 52.8 gallons of water, 74.5 square feet of land, and 1,036 Btus of fossil fuel energy for feed production, according to a recent NPR study.

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4394165/Today-s-special--3D-printed-meat-?cid=NL_EETimesDaily

Fire up the grill for the latest in 3-D printing. Modern Meadow, a Missouri-based start-up has secured backing from billionaire Peter Thiel’s philanthropic foundation to create printable meat.

“If you look at the resource intensity of everything that goes into a hamburger, it is an environmental train wreck,” said Modern Meadow co-founder Andras Forgacs in an interview with Mashable.

<snip>

Take those numbers and multiply them by the 26.4 billion pounds of beef that was consumed in the US in 2010 and the environmental burden becomes catastrophic.

Despite these fact Americans, myself included, refuse to give up our love affair with our favorite meat.

Enter 3-D printing to save the day. Modern Meadow hopes the same 3-D printing technology currently being used to create medical grade tissue can be used to provide food for your table, without the environmental impact.

*More at link*

[HiPointDem]

36. soylent green is people, my friend.

[a geek named Bob]

46. no...

it's made of Kale and spirulina.

[HiPointDem]

49. that's what they *tell* us....

[a geek named Bob]

50. I just checked

my curried lentil soup...

no toenails...

[Posteritatis]

37. There's different media depending on the machine

Most commercial/hobbyist ones right now use spools or beads of plastic, but some more advanced ones can work with metal. There's one floating around as much as a gag/gimmick as anything else that basically works with anything that's squishy or melts at low temperatures; stuff's been 'printed' with it using play-doh and spray cheese.

Anything on the market these days that doesn't cost $(limbs) works in plastic, though. The food examples are quite a few steps ahead of where the state of the art currently is.

[Flaxbee]

56. Absolutely - the food examples are just in their infancy

but I think this technology is going to progress extremely quickly.

As will replacement organs for medical purposes.

Changing public perception, however, might take much much much longer.

[yodermon]

5. ticker u want is DDD

motley fool says it will be a 10 bagger,

[BlueStreak]

43. I'm not sure the Motley Fool has ever been right about ANYTHING

Seriously, if I am evaluating an investment and somebody from the Fool is high on it, I move on.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. Boy the world is really leaving me behind

I was born in 1949 and when I think about a world where you'll be able to manufacture a steak in your kitchen, all I want is to find a nice little cabin in the woods and spend the rest of my days with some books and a guitar. I guess younger people will love it, though.

[dawg]

8. Wow.

One of my greatest fears right now is that I'll end up spending the rest of my life alone in this little cabin in the woods with just my books and my guitar.

[Flaxbee]

29. not a bad future at all, a cabin with books and a guitar.

But, when the prices of these things drop, as they will, you might just want one so you don't have to run to the grocery store when there's 6' of snow outside.

Or you might want to conjure up a new guitar.

You never know when or how inspiration might strike.

That is what is so incredibly wonderful about this technology.

[dawg]

47. But I don't want a printed guitar.

Picks maybe. But I can already punch them out of old credit cards.

[Flaxbee]

107. Just for you, from The Guardian: How 3D printing is revolutionising guitar-making

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jun/15/3d-printing-revolutionising-guitar-making

[WinkyDink]

31. Another '49er here, and ITA!

[BlueStreak]

44. You can print that cabin, guitar, and books, dontm you know?

The problem is, they already have cabins, guitars, and books. They are called guitars, cabins, and books. And they work really well.

[coalition_unwilling]

45. Credence Clearwater Revival's "Lookin' Out My Back Door" comes to mind:

&feature=player_detailpage

Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singing,
Doo, doo, doo, Looking out my back door.

There's a giant doing cartwheels,
A statue wearing high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola listening to Buck Owens.

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flying spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Wond'rous apparition provided by magician.

CHORUS

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flying spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.

CHORUS

Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.

CHORUS

[Fumesucker]

7. Tea, Earl Grey, hot..

It's only a matter of time..

[dawg]

9. I have that.

It's called a Keurig.

[BattyDem]

12. That's what I was thinking.

You posted as I was typing.

Sometimes I wonder if Star Trek is a fantasy or a blueprint, LOL!

[Fumesucker]

15. Neither, it's a fairly well done Space Opera..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_opera

[Flaxbee]

24. Much of science fiction is a blueprint. Look at Arthur C. Clarke conceiving

satellite communication, for just one example.

[Generic Brad]

83. It better not be a blue print

I would dread a future where we have clunky, swiveled computer monitors on our desk tops and most of us have to stand up all day at our work stations. And I'm a fan.

[Flaxbee]

92. lol. well, maybe not *all* of it

[BattyDem]

149. But wouldn't transporters and holodecks make it all worth it?

[justabob]

33. yeah

I am not sure I am ready for replicators, but they are indeed on their way.

[BattyDem]

10. It's a very early version of a Star Trek "replicator"

[sadbear]

14. Did anyone else the the animation video of a 3D printer building a 2000sf house?

With all electrical and plumbing included?

[dawg]

17. I will say this, though.

I can see this technology having an impact on industries like auto parts and medical supplies. Much easier to print custom parts on site than to maintain extensive inventories and ship things around the country. I just don't see much benefit for the home user.

[Egalitarian Thug]

21. If we can get there more or less intact, the future's gonna be kind of cool. n/t

[Flaxbee]

26. Won't it, though?

I really do believe, though, that it will not only revolutionize the future of manufacturing, but the future of work, society, the (hopefully) preservation of the environment, space travel, everything.

[Egalitarian Thug]

140. It has to or we won't make it. People will either lose the 19th century ideas and come to grips with

how things actually are, or we will be left behind.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

22. How does it work?

I can't get my mind around the concept. Printing food? How in hell do you do that?

[Flaxbee]

25. check upthread; and here's the link from The Economist

really, totally freaking cool.

Animal proteins are just basic molecular structures. So are replacement body parts

http://www.economist.com/node/21552903

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

38. Well that sorta answers it.

Maybe I'm not asking correctly, in fact, it's more like I'm just thinking out loud. First you need to load the 'printer' with the raw material. Let's say for sake of argument, I consumed paper plates by the hundreds each day. The printer will have to keep up with the demand, how fast are they? How much energy do they consume to work? How much raw material do I have to have to make the paper plates? Can it make more than one at a time? Can it stop global warming?

[Flaxbee]

63. I don't know about the "ingredients"

And will there be governmental regulation restricting "ingredients" so the world isn't turned upside down? I can easily see the Koch brothers lobbying to make whatever 'ingredients' you need to make stuff available only to large corporations.

Crap, you know, that's probably what will happen.

Building the printers is the easy part. Having access to what you need to make what you want might be tricky. This is a very new but rapidly evolving technology.

But yes. This could save the environment. Just the one example of printing food could dramatically improve the environment, AND make food plentiful for everyone. Think of it. EVERYONE could have enough food. No more starvation because of drought or pestilence or mold or fungus or whatever kills crops and food animals.

Everything is 'organic' - has a molecular structure. But how to get what you need to create what you want is going to be an interesting issue. Maybe eventually you'll be able to just buy starter kits on Amazon

[a geek named Bob]

128. not quite true...

One of the plastics basic 'printers use is PLA, a corn based plastic.

barring that, you CAN make your own polyethylene plastic.

Which would use up excess carbon dioxide.

[Auntie Bush]

28. Will they be able to print guns and ammunition or even tanks and planes? What's

next? robot soldiers?

[kelly1mm]

51. Guns - yes. They already have printed the lower receiver of a AR style rifle (the lower receiver

is the regulated part). Here is a link:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/133514-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-gun

[regnaD kciN]

32. Let me guess...

These are going to be manufactured by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation?

[muriel_volestrangler]

80. Share and enjoy"

NARRATOR:
…only slightly worse. One of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation creations is the NutriMatic Drink Dispenser. One of which has just provided Arthur Dent with a plastic cup filled with a liquid which is almost - but not quite - entirely unlike tea.

(NutriMatic dispenser noises)

ARTHUR:
Ah. (Takes a sip) Yeugh!! (Spits out liquid)

NARRATOR:
The way it works is very interesting. When the ‘Drink’ button is pressed it makes an instant, but highly-detailed, examination of the subject’s taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject’s metabolism, and then sends tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centres of the subject’s brain, to see what is likely to be well received. However, no one knows quite why it does this, because it then invariably delivers a cup-full of liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.


Scene 4. Int. Heart of Gold. Galley

ARTHUR:
I mean what is the point?

NUTRIMATIC DRINK DISPENSER:
Nutrition and pleasurable sense data. Share and enjoy!

ARTHUR:
Listen, you stupid machine. It tastes filthy! Here take this cup back!

(He throws cup at NutriMatic)

NUTRIMATIC DRINK DISPENSER:
If you have enjoyed the experience of this drink, why not share it with your friends?

ARTHUR:
Because I want to keep them! Will you try and comprehend what I’m telling you? That drink -

NUTRIMATIC DRINK DISPENSER:
…that drink was individually tailored to meet your personal requirements for nutrition and pleasure

ARTHUR:
Ah! So I’m a masochist on a diet, am I?!

NUTRIMATIC DRINK DISPENSER:
Share and enjoy.

http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/THHGTTG/THHGTTGradio9.htm

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

34. My girlfriend uses one of these at work for chassis prototying

It isn't remotely cost effective for serial production and probably never will be, but before they were waiting weeks to get prototype parts back at spectacular cost. Although the first thing she made with it was a neon green reproduction of her left boob. One of her colleagues was slightly more inspired any made some amazing airplane models.

The quality of the resins also isn't the greatest, she has made a few things just for the sake of testing them to destruction and it wasn't very difficult to break them.

But major industrial paradigm shift because somebody can print their own spatula instead of going to the dollar store?

[Flaxbee]

60. But see - it probably will one day (soon) be cost-effective

unless industry thwarts it. I think the only thing that will keep this from being a game changer in the next decade is industry resistance to a complete, as you say, paradigm shift.

Computers weren't cost effective 30 years ago. Now they are.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

65. economies of scale

Injection molding costs practically nothing, ocean container shipping costs practically nothing. Personal computers at any price were relatively cost effective either by way of reduced labor or relative to mainframe and mini's that cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

[Flaxbee]

73. But these things you mention were at one time prohibitive

Computers used to just be enormous and completely impractical for an everyday user.

Now you can't hardly get through your day without one.

Whatever you think of it now, imagine what it will be like in the future, and hope that it will revolutionize everything from food production to labor conditions to medical care - and hopefully make it much better and more accessible.

[Taverner]

35. This will set a standard for collectors....

People will want "existwares" rather than "printwares"

And existwares will cost more

[-..__...]

48. 3D-printed guns

I'm more of a fan of doing it old school... milling machine, lathe, drill press, etc, but given time, this could open up a whole new area to explore for the DIY home firearms builder...

An American gunsmith has become the first person to construct and shoot a pistol partly made out of plastic, 3D-printed parts. The creator, user HaveBlue from the AR-15 forum, has reportedly fired 200 rounds with his part-plastic pistol without any sign of wear and tear.

HaveBlue’s custom creation is a .22-caliber pistol, formed from a 3D-printed AR-15 (M16) lower receiver, and a normal, commercial upper. In other words, the main body of the gun is plastic, while the chamber — where the bullets are actually struck — is solid metal.

The lower receiver was created using a fairly old school Stratasys 3D printer, using a normal plastic resin. HaveBlue estimates that it cost around $30 of resin to create the lower receiver, but “Makerbots and the other low cost printers exploding onto the market would bring the cost down to perhaps $10.” Commercial, off-the-shelf assault rifle lower receivers are a lot more expensive. If you want to print your own AR-15 lower receiver, HaveBlue has uploaded the schematic to Thingiverse.

HaveBlue tried to use the same lower receiver to make a full-blown .223 AR-15/M16 rifle, but it didn’t work. Funnily enough, he thinks the off-the-shelf parts are causing issues, rather than the 3D-printed part.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/133514-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-gun

[FredStembottom]

54. Zoo toys?

I have a company on my freight route that runs a slew of these printers.... And the finished stuff reminds me most of those wax souvenirs you can make at the zoo.

You know, you stick in your money and 2 heads come together and make a black wax gorilla, or George Washington.

Isn't everything coming out of these printers restricted to mono-material, plastic-y look-alikes?

[Flaxbee]

67. Right not it is pretty basic

But the interesting thing will be to see what develops as the technology and materials become more sophisticated.

Nanotechnology + 3D printing = whole new world.

[FredStembottom]

82. Gotch ya.

Will be watching what happens.

[True Earthling]

61. 3D organs... hearts, livers, kidneys - no more transplant donors needed, no rejection issues

Dr. Forgacs envisions fully implantable organs printed from a patient's own cells. "You give us your cells: we grow them, we print them, the structure forms and we are ready to go," he says. "I am pretty sure that full organs will be on the market [one day]." These organs may not look like our organs but they will function just like the real thing.

The Possibilities for Transplants
Organ printing allows new tissue to replace diseased tissue. Since new tissue can be developed from cell sources from your own body, rejection of transplanted tissue is not an issue. The cells can be taken from youthful progenitor cells in your bone marrow to replace the older diseased cells. The cells ability to self-assemble means they will organize themselves into a functional tissue after being positioned.

video...

&feature=player_embedded#

[randome]

64. That's where I see real-world applications.

The rest is interesting and possible but maybe not as feasible as picking something up at the store, as some have already pointed out.

[GreenPartyVoter]

70. Me too. I think it will be a long time before these things come home and make things for us.

[Go Vols]

69. I posted this elsewhere a couple of years ago.

http://www.wimp.com/functionaltools/

[Flaxbee]

75. I have seen many more references to 3D printing / additive manufacturing lately

Hopefully it is on its way to becoming viable on a large scale.

[Matariki]

71. Has anyone mentioned The Diamond Age in this thread yet?

[Flaxbee]

102. The Neal Stephenson book?

Not that I've seen ...

[Matariki]

148. Yep. Everyone had nanotechnology machines

that could make just about anything. Basic needs were essentially free - food, clothing, etc. There were public nanotech machines as well. Larger things like cars or whatever had to be made in places that had larger machines and the prices would reflect the size of the machine required to make it - since everything was made at an atomic level the base material for everything was cheap and ubiquitous.

The article reminded me of the book...

[reformist2]

74. It looks like too much work. I don't think I'll be buying one.

[Flaxbee]

77. Wait 5-10 years

and see what you think then.

[reformist2]

78. I may change my mind.... I am a late adopter. I just bought my first laptop this year!

[SheilaT]

79. Some years ago someone wrote a science fiction story

about just such a technology coming into common usage. In the story, the replicator (don't recall exactly what it was called, but that's what I'll say here) could use anything at all to make anything else. As a consequence, the entire world had spiraled down into a genuinely sad condition. The vast majority of the world's population were incredibly poor, just eking out a bare subsistence, dumping a little dirt every day into the replicator to get a little food. There was no incentive for regular farming, no incentive to do almost anything at all.

I'm sure some kind of 3D printing will become common in various areas, but to think that we'll have them in our homes strikes me as not believable. There are just so many issues. What will be the cost of the raw materials? What will those raw materials actually consist of? What will happen when those raw materials themselves get scarce? I wish I could recall the name of the story above, because it really is a cautionary tale.

Plus, the level of complexity of things like human organs seems to me to be a huge stumbling block in "printing" them for transplant purposes.

We have a very long way to go before this sort of thing becomes truly feasible, let alone common.

[leveymg]

81. Nonindustrial, at-home injection molding machines will work for plastics, films, and pastes. They

won't replace things that must be made of harder materials, other than carbon fiber, or that actually taste good.

But, still, it is pretty amazing. Reminds me of the the scene in 2001 where the guy's eating a "chicken sandwich" in a flying moon rover and he remarks how "they're getting better at this every day."

[Flaxbee]

88. Arthur C. Clarke was a family friend

He was a visionary.

We accepted his vision for satellite communications. Why not his ideas about "chicken sandwiches"?

When I wasn't a vegetarian, I didn't think chicken tasted all that good without seasoning ...

We're past the silicon age, into the carbon age.

(Edited to remove rude and unnecessary comment about Steve Jobs)

[leveymg]

99. He seems like he would've been a great guy to have a cup of hot cocao with as a 9 year old.

That's the warm feeling I had when I started to read his novels at about that age. He was a practical visionary and optimist of the best kind. He really believed in the possibility and power of change.

Still waiting for Childhood End. But, glad to have my own kid still human; listening together to "Singing in the Rain" as she does homework.

Lucky you to have such a family friend.

[Flaxbee]

123. He and my husband worked together for about a decade near the end

of Arthur's life.

We were going to go to Sri Lanka to visit when he fell ill.

My husband knew him much better than I did, though.

[Odin2005]

119. he was a family friend? I'M FUCKING JEALOUS!!!

You lucky SOB!

[Flaxbee]

125. My husband worked with him

I just got mentioned in holiday correspondence

He did NOT suffer fools gladly. Very very bright man who was interested in truly disruptive technologies.

We'd planned to go to Sri Lanka right around the time he fell ill and died. I'm sorry I never met him in person.

[PopeOxycontinI]

84. Meh

Got to play with one of these....not practical for more than plastic prototypes
or the occasional custom part.

[Flaxbee]

86. But that's NOW. What about in 5, 10, 15 or 50 years from now?

You can pooh-pooh it all you want now, but wait until the technology develops.

If Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or some other "visionary" (ha ha - since neither of those men are/were even remotely visionary) came out and promoted this, the world would think it was super-duper, wonderful, the best thing ever!

[Initech]

87. You cannot create a living house on a 3-D printer. I call bullshit.

I've seen these things in action - the writer is way off. What these printers do is create prototypes out of plastic molds - which are then sent to manufacturers. If this guy thinks they'll create real houses - I say quit bogarting that bong.

[Flaxbee]

90. Don't call bullshit too quickly.

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/a-giant-3d-printer-builds-a-livable-house/28301



Contour Crafting is a layered fabrication technology that uses a moveable gantry taller than the house to be built. Walls are built up layer by layer using concrete with automatic reinforcement or plumbing added in the process.

Khoshnevis says current construction methods are slow, labor intensive and costly. With Contour Crafting, houses could be built for a fraction of the cost and in less time. Khoshnevis says that a 2500-square-foot house can be built in approximately 20 hours.



Is it ready for widespread use yet? Probably not, but it is the future.

And anyway, why would you disparage a technology? Why not find it exciting, interesting, and able to improve the lives of millions of people?

[Initech]

97. It's not the technology I'm discouraging.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for ending poverty and homelessness for good but it seems to me like the writer of this article is painting a worst-case end of the world as we know it scenario. You want 3-D printers? Its the end of America!!!! OMG!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

89. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAHA!!!!

That thing will never fly.

[Flaxbee]

91. Exactly.

[a geek named Bob]

95. you know...

I've got the plans for this, from a book dating back to 1910. The books were written for boys (ages roughly 12-16).

scarey how much we've self censored tech plans...

[Luminous Animal]

93. How environmentally sound is this?

[Warren DeMontague]

96. Compared to not manufacturing anything at all, ever? If that's what you mean: Not very, I'd suspect.

Compared to the way we manufacture (and ship) most things now, I'd be inclined to call it a gain.

[Flaxbee]

104. Actually, additive manufacturing marks a HUGE environmental benefit

You build the item layer by layer, rather than carve it out of a hunk of tree, or marble, or whatever.

If we can make our food from it - and wipe out the factory farms and Monsantos of the world, that would also be an enormous environmental (and humane) gain for food production. Read upthread about how much of an environmental train wreck cattle ranching is.

Here's a story on 3D printing with wood (sawdust): http://fabbaloo.com/blog/2011/4/1/3d-print-objects-in-wood.html#.UEU7qJb4Lkk
This would allow for incredible recycling of wood products -- just grind up the old table that's stained or has a broken leg, and reformulate the sawdust into whatever you want.

[Luminous Animal]

124. What is being used to bind the sawdust?

And I know the environmental wreck of cattle ranching is. Consuming meat is also a health hazard. But not all beef production is an environmental hazard; in fact, it can be part of a healthy eco-system...

And consider the loss to diversity. Who will end up controlling the "raw materials"? How difficult will it be to access organic foods? Nutrition is more than the composite of elements of which we know. There are still many unknowns about what comprises nutritious food... one of which may be the soil in which it is grown.

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

But meat aside, what about the plastics?

[Luminous Animal]

111. Well, if I can no longer purcahse household items made of metal or wood... if nearly everything

that we use is some form of plastic, I'd think that would contribute to increased environmental degradation. Many people I know, including my family, do as much as they can to avoid plastic products. They are produced with a dwindling asset, they don't biodegrade, they add to landfill, and they emit toxins as they degrade.

I believe that another world is possible without creating yet another technology that does little to move us towards the direction of sustainability.

[Warren DeMontague]

122. There have been several forms of cornstarch based compostable plastic developed in recent years nt

[Flaxbee]

127. No - items can be made of metal and wood. Powders with binding agents.

Carbon-based products. You can extract carbon from the air around you, transform it and use it to manufacture.

You can recycle wood easily.

And did you not read what printed food will do for sustainability? Read upthread, or here:

ONE hamburger takes 6.7 pounds of grain, 52.8 gallons of water, 74.5 square feet of land, and 1,036 Btus of fossil fuel energy for feed production, according to a recent NPR study.

Do you really want a hamburger that badly at such an enormous environmental cost? Really?

Well then, how about you go in for a 3D meat burger?

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4394165/Today-s-special--3D-printed-meat-?cid=NL_EETimesDaily

Fire up the grill for the latest in 3-D printing. Modern Meadow, a Missouri-based start-up has secured backing from billionaire Peter Thiel’s philanthropic foundation to create printable meat.

“If you look at the resource intensity of everything that goes into a hamburger, it is an environmental train wreck,” said Modern Meadow co-founder Andras Forgacs in an interview with Mashable.

<snip>

Take those numbers and multiply them by the 26.4 billion pounds of beef that was consumed in the US in 2010 and the environmental burden becomes catastrophic.

Despite these fact Americans, myself included, refuse to give up our love affair with our favorite meat.

Enter 3-D printing to save the day. Modern Meadow hopes the same 3-D printing technology currently being used to create medical grade tissue can be used to provide food for your table, without the environmental impact.

[Luminous Animal]

130. What are the powders composed of?

Thanks for the link but it is remarkably short on science and doesn't even begin to define what it takes to produce medical grade tissue so it doesn't address any environmental issues at all.

I do remember how GMOs were marketed as a savior to world hunger. Turns out, not so much and in most "third world" and "developing nations" at the expense of sustainability and the health of local communities. A lot of people are displaced from their communities, starving, dead, or working for WalMart or call centers from that agricultural "miracle".

[Flaxbee]

137. Metal, and wood powders

You are absolutely correct, though. This needs to be adopted carefully, so that waste isn't increased, and one danger isn't substituted for the other.

I used to be a lawyer, and everyone thought computers would reduce the amount of paper used. Wrong. Paper use (waste) increased exponentially.

But - the possibilities are truly exciting. Nanotechnology and 3D printing, if managed and used wisely, can really change the world for the better.

As with anything - caution and wisdom must prevail.

[ashling]

98. The GOP should have used one

to print their nominee

[Flaxbee]

105. Indeed

Would have been much more lifelike

[derby378]

110. These rapid-prototype machines will never truly replace manufacturing jobs

You can't just "print" shoes - that's a mutifaceted job process requiring numerous materials.

And hey, after the next world war, manufacturing jobs are going to be popping up all over the place.

[Flaxbee]

112. Robots have already replaced manufacturing jobs.

They're gone. Forever.

I'll bet you that one day (probably soon) you can buy the materials you need for shoes from Amazon, in a kit. So maybe there will be manufacturers making the materials for these printers, but it will not be the manufacturing of yore.

[KapCarl]

150. Let's not blame the robots. They are also going to be 3d printed. Really...

Question is... do you prefer your 3d printed robots to be humanoid or more machine like?

Peter Walters and David McGoran, researchers at the University of West England, Bristol, are working in the field of "soft robotics" using 3D printing to help make robots that are more like humans. You can read about it here.

[undeterred]

113. Does it print money?

Because if I could print that myself it would be really nice.

[derby378]

114. You'll probably need a really good litho machine capable of inserting flexible plastic into paper

Only problem is that anyone who manufactures those behemoths reports their sales to the Secret Service, so you might get an ominous knock at your door at 3am...

[undeterred]

118. But there would be so many people doing it

the Secret Service would have to hire a lot more people.

[Warren DeMontague]

133. Even better, it prints Romneys

[IDemo]

117. Better get those printer drivers well debugged

I'd hate to see a steak beginning to form on top of my half-printed Lamborghini.

[Odin2005]

120. This is gonna change everything.

[Flaxbee]

126. I know. I hope for the better. Isn't it exciting?

[Odin2005]

129. Things like this are what keep me optimistic about the future.

[KapCarl]

132. 3d printing is already disrupting our manufacturing process

The debate on whether or not 3d printing is going to disrupt our existing manufacturing reality is already playing out in many industries. Even the use of additive manufacturing for prototyping - in its ability to cut costs and save time - is changing how companies get to market with traditional manufacturing tools. Best example I've seen recently is Quirky. One of their goals is to make invention accessible and they do all of their manufacturing in the states instead of shipping the work off to China. That's already pretty disruptive (technology wise). 3D printing is an integral part of their design and product development process. Here's a nice post on the Objet blog about one way 3d printing can change our manufacturing process.

Disclaimer: I work for Objet. Questions welcomed...

[Flaxbee]

139. Hi, KapCarl! First, welcome to DU!

And second, thanks so much for joining the conversation! I know about Objet ... that's a terrific explanation you posted.

I'm not a terribly technical person at all (trained as a corporate lawyer) but I find this subject absolutely fascinating. Not just the science/technology behind it, but that it can keep manufacturing of many items in the US (or wherever it originates).

Edited for a few typos.

[Warren DeMontague]

134. I'll tell you one thing. When 3D printers start to print more 3D printers

We are doomed.

[Flaxbee]

138. lol.

they're already printing replacement parts for themselves

If they become self-aware, game over

[Warren DeMontague]

142. If they can make the Summer Glau model

I, for one, will gladly welcome our new Terminator overlords.

[Yavin4]

136. The Luddites' Video Response to Your Post

[jmowreader]

144. I heard this before...

The subject that time was e-commerce, or whatever it was being called in 1998. Remember that e-commerce was supposed to close every store and everyone would just shop online. I was on ZDNet at the time and I described e-commerce as the new form of catalog shopping. Which it is, and mail order had been around for a bazillion years without killing the walk-in trade. What e-commerce HAS done, is cut back the catalog-printing industry; anyone setting up a mail-order firm today goes online without ever printing catalogs, and many catalog-printing companies have either reduced or eliminated their print catalogs.

I can see quite a few uses for 3d printers. Repair parts for obsolete things come very close to the top of the list...IIRC Jay Leno bought a 3d printer to make masters for old-car parts. The master goes to a job-work foundry who sends a metal piece back a week later. Things that would sell, but not well enough to afford to make tooling for them, can now be made.

I also heard the "industry will resist this thing that will destroy it" line many times before. Think back to the early days of e-commerce and small-scale manufacturing and the first thing the kiddies thought of was automaking: you would be able to go to a website, get a car made exactly the way you wanted it, and the car dealers would all close as a result. What actually happened in the interval was the day of the factory option came to an end. In the really old days you could go to a dealer and tell him (car dealers used to all be men) you wanted a car made a certain way, give him money and come back in six weeks after your car was made to order and shipped to your dealer. Now all cars are equipped identically, and any little options you might want are bolted on at the dealership. Good industrialists will always embrace the new; when autos replaced the horse-drawn carriage the smart buggy whip makers changed to making driving gloves and long coats. If 3d printing turns out to replace machining, well-run manufacturers will put 3d printers on the floor and dive in headfirst. But you will have to convince the factory owner that it is cheaper to print nails than to make them out of wire, or that printing cylinder heads uses less material than casting them does.

Some of the uses the author envisions for 3d printers are kinda weird. We already have a machine that will make a new shirt any time you need one; sewing machines have been in people's homes for centuries and work using proven technological means. We could print shoes...but ya know, they're gonna look like Crocs and those are butt ugly.

And no, the "average person" will NOT be able to make new products; you will still need to be able to envision and design a new thing, and most of us can't do that.

There are things the 3d printer is going to be great for. There are things it will be awful for, but those are the things it will be used for.

[hedgehog]

146. The printers will be cheap, but the cartridges will cost a mint!

[Flaxbee]

147. MORE than the original printer, if you can believe it!

Sheesh!

[charto911]

151. 3D printing alread is changing the world

I dont think will it is the proper question but rather that it already is being changed. Peter Thiels investment in the 3D printing of meat really was an amazing testament to the future of the industry being used in every manufacturing process not just only in physical design products but also in things that are needed for our survival.

As you probably read in Yahoo! Finance and on the web there is 3D printed sunglasses ( http://finance.yahoo.com/news/protos-eyewear-launches-full-line-203300749.html furniture, cars, and now food (in very very small portions).

The future is bright for those that understand 3D printing as we haven't even breached the surface but I think it's proper to say that it's already here and already changing our everyday lives.

[MicaelS]

152. Just wait until people start printing their own guns at home...

On their 3D printers. One guy has already started trying. http://haveblue.org/

Fill out an ATF Form 1, load up your printer and start printing.