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They're pretty good. I was working with a medical devices company 8 years ago that was using them for prototyping. It's incredible how accurate they are.
The next DVD Player? Outdated and in everyone's homes waiting to be replaced? Well, given that they have been out for so long already and haven't made it to homes yet, I'd imagine there's still a long time before this happens.
3D Printing and The Replicator Economy | Txchnologist (http://www.txchnologist.com/volumes/advanced-manufacturing/3d-printing-and-the-replicator-economy - broken link)
I would be curious to know how many jobs will disappear due to these machines.
Would China implode? What about parts stores in the US? Walmart?
Now is the time to learn the required methods of inputting the data. That way when these are in everyone's home you can sell software "kits" to them. I expect it to be one heck of a money maker in time.
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Originally Posted by Tek_Freek
Now is the time to learn the required methods of inputting the data. That way when these are in everyone's home you can sell software "kits" to them. I expect it to be one heck of a money maker in time.
I agree that affordable desktop 3D printers (aka "stereolithography" and "rapid prototyping") are gonna be a huge "game changer", at least as much as laserwriters impacted printing and publishing, enabling everything from desktop publishing, homebrew newsletters and marketing campaigns, to thousands of entrepreneurial publications, and the growth of multi-media graphic design.
The possibilities for entrepreneurs will be endless, especially with the ability to make cost-effective "one-offs" of an idea. But the really remarkable thing is that these printers can not only make "copies" of existing items and products, they're also capable of creating virtually anything you can simply "imagine", and that can be rendered in 3D modeling software, and of course it can "scale" stuff up and down as well. For example, there are a lot of artists now who are even using this technology to create some amazing sculpture and jewelry!
And yes, like desktop publishing, knowing how to use the 3D software "tools" will be essential, although most any 3D file that can be converted into the STL file format will work.
There is a 3D printer company out there (I can't find the site now, of course) that uses their printer to print another one. That is cool!!
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