
Fast (Nanotech) Takeoff: RepRap Rocks - ph0rque
http://crnano.typepad.com/crnblog/2009/04/fast-takeoff-reprap-rocks.html
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dschobel
_[RepRap] has been called the invention that will bring down global
capitalism, start a second industrial revolution and save the environment..._
\- The front page of The Guardian, November 25, 2006.

Good lord, there's hype and then there's Guardian hype.

~~~
tjic
Also, can we PLEASE stop posting all these articles about RepRap.

As cheap-ass CNC systems go, it's OK, but (a) no, it CAN'T reproduce itself
(it has tons of precision components that you have to buy separately, and (b)
it has nothing to do with nanotech.

~~~
tjic
Down-vote it if you want, but we've gotten over 100 different posts on RepRap,
even though there has been no new news or development in quite a while.

[http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+r...](http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+reprap&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-
US:unofficial&client=firefox-a)

I'm all for posts if there's something to say, but the ceaseless boosterism
for RepRap, and the unwillingness to either be realistic about RepRap or
address criticism is quite annoying.

~~~
kragen
There's new news and development every week. Check out the RepRap blog (and,
if that's not high-volume enough for you, the RepRap builders blog). I guess
you didn't even bother to read the original article; the development of
successfully constructing printed circuits from solder is news in the last
couple of weeks.

 _Nothing_ can reproduce itself, strictly speaking; there are dozens of basic
chemicals that even your own body needs and can't manufacture from raw atoms:
vitamins, essential amino acids, Ω3 and Ω6 fatty acids, several heavy metals,
and so on.

The RepRap Darwin has _already_ successfully manufactured all of its custom
parts except for the extruder nozzle and circuit boards, leaving only a few
hundred dollars' worth of common off-the-shelf "vitamin" parts to buy to build
the thing. At this point, it's a matter of optimization: improving the
machine's reliability, further reducing the number of custom parts (and making
them easier to make), simplifying and automating assembly, and so on.

In short, your criticism is false from beginning to end. Do you feel that that
sufficiently "addresses" it? (Myself, I prefer to address human beings.)

I'm not affiliated with the project, I've never seen a RepRap in person, and
I'm not engaged in trying to build one.

~~~
tjic
> The RepRap Darwin has already successfully manufactured all of its custom
> parts except for the extruder nozzle and circuit boards, leaving only a few
> hundred dollars' worth of common off-the-shelf "vitamin" parts

So it can extrude plastic, but can't extrude

* nozzles

* circuit boards

* guide rails

* screws

* motors

* steel rods

* thermocouple sensor

* rotary encoder

* etc., etc., etc.

That's quite a lot of "vitamins" (to use the propoganda term).

Take a look at the Darwin.

<http://www.reprap.org/pub/Main/WebHome/darwin-small.jpg>

I believe that of everything you see there, the only things that the RepRap
creates itself are the small white plastic bits...maybe 10% of the machine by
volume, 5% by weight, and 1% by complexity.

> Check out the RepRap blog

I have. The signal to noise ratio is pretty low, and there's a lot of
relentless boosterism (did I mention the OVER 100 TIMES that RepRap has been
posted to news.yc?

> In short, your criticism is false from beginning to end. Do you feel that
> that sufficiently "addresses" it? (Myself, I prefer to address human
> beings.)

If you're going to do a dictionary flame, do it right. "Address a criticism"
is a phrase that has been used in English for hundreds of years, even if
you're not familiar with it.

------
anigbrowl
Phorque, this is just commentary on the same story (RR prints first circuit)
you posted the other day. That was worthy of note, but commentary on same
doesn't really add anything and this particular article is really lightweight.

~~~
ph0rque
So... don't upvote it? Or, if you don't feel it's hacker-newsworthy enough, go
ahead and flag it?

For what it's worth, I really liked the links and 3D additive printing
industry analysis, so I posted it here.

