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How Long Before the Digital Dam Breaks?
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<blockquote data-quote="Cergorach" data-source="post: 7745472" data-attributes="member: 725"><p>Around 24 years ago I bought a nice little cheap B/W laser printer from Texas Instruments, that thing was near indestructible! After years of fateful service the fuser was damaged and due to TI no longer producing printers, a replacement part was unfindable. At the time I went looking for a replacement printer of the same size, functionality, pricing, etc. Nothing! Even now, I'm hard pressed to find something in that price range (after inflation) and that form factor. In the last 25 years Laser print technology hasn't gotten any better and is essentially still the same.</p><p></p><p>The only reason that 3D printing has changed so much is due to the expiration of patents in 2006 and Open Source projects running wild with it and a few pioneers in the field driving hobbyist prices down. Kickstarter and Alibaba also have a huge impact. But honestly, I know how the average joe is with 2D printers (morons), that's not really going to change with 3D printers. I think that 25 years you mentioned is more like "We'll surely have flying cars and rocket packs!" and less then reality. Sure quality will improve immensely, it'll certainly become easier to 3D print well, but the market is still driven by the OS community in the hobbyist field. Large companies won't touch that because it's based on old tech (patents elapsed) and will focus on cutting edge stuff that's very expensive. Heck Formlabs is making a SLS printer (Fuse 1) for €12,099+, that's HUGE! But that's still way out of the price range of most consumers. What I expect to make huge changes is societal changes. Things like workerspaces for everyone at walking distances where such products are financed by the community that can also use it, people that operate those things teaching others how to do it, etc. This is already happening on a small scale, but it's mostly done by nerds and if people do know about them, they have no idea how to use it because they lack the knowledge and imagination...</p><p></p><p>Let's say you have four people, each with their own skills:</p><p>- One can draw/design a miniature</p><p>- One can 3D sculpt it</p><p>- One who knows how that communal Form 2 works and can use it</p><p>- One who can resin cast miniatures</p><p></p><p>Normally that would be a small company, now it could be more of a communal exchange without all the overhead...</p><p></p><p>[/dreaming]</p><p>;-)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cergorach, post: 7745472, member: 725"] Around 24 years ago I bought a nice little cheap B/W laser printer from Texas Instruments, that thing was near indestructible! After years of fateful service the fuser was damaged and due to TI no longer producing printers, a replacement part was unfindable. At the time I went looking for a replacement printer of the same size, functionality, pricing, etc. Nothing! Even now, I'm hard pressed to find something in that price range (after inflation) and that form factor. In the last 25 years Laser print technology hasn't gotten any better and is essentially still the same. The only reason that 3D printing has changed so much is due to the expiration of patents in 2006 and Open Source projects running wild with it and a few pioneers in the field driving hobbyist prices down. Kickstarter and Alibaba also have a huge impact. But honestly, I know how the average joe is with 2D printers (morons), that's not really going to change with 3D printers. I think that 25 years you mentioned is more like "We'll surely have flying cars and rocket packs!" and less then reality. Sure quality will improve immensely, it'll certainly become easier to 3D print well, but the market is still driven by the OS community in the hobbyist field. Large companies won't touch that because it's based on old tech (patents elapsed) and will focus on cutting edge stuff that's very expensive. Heck Formlabs is making a SLS printer (Fuse 1) for €12,099+, that's HUGE! But that's still way out of the price range of most consumers. What I expect to make huge changes is societal changes. Things like workerspaces for everyone at walking distances where such products are financed by the community that can also use it, people that operate those things teaching others how to do it, etc. This is already happening on a small scale, but it's mostly done by nerds and if people do know about them, they have no idea how to use it because they lack the knowledge and imagination... Let's say you have four people, each with their own skills: - One can draw/design a miniature - One can 3D sculpt it - One who knows how that communal Form 2 works and can use it - One who can resin cast miniatures Normally that would be a small company, now it could be more of a communal exchange without all the overhead... [/dreaming] ;-) [/QUOTE]
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