

You’ll Download Physical Objects Sooner Than You Think - coolrhymes
http://mashable.com/2012/01/31/youll-download-physical-objects-sooner-than-you-think-thanks-to-kids-like-these/

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jxcole
While it's an interesting subject, this article is terrible. No actual news
was contained within. A bunch of hyperbole about what "might" happen, without
any evidence besides hearsay. Your time would be better spent reading the
wikipedia article:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printer>

~~~
redouane
a typical mashable article... quantity over quality, how sad

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sp332
How can you have an article about downloadable physical objects without
mentioning Shapeways? <http://www.shapeways.com/model/227707/> The uploader
chooses the materials the object is available in (Shapeways will print it in
that material and send it to you), or whether you can download the file and
print it yourself.
[http://www.shapeways.com/model/449442/the_piratebay_ship.htm...](http://www.shapeways.com/model/449442/the_piratebay_ship.html?gid=mg)

~~~
ff0066mote
They also neglected to mention <http://www.thingiverse.com/>

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Zirro
This is bound to disrupt a lot of industries. I can already imagine the
massive lobbying efforts and propaganda against it.

~~~
freehunter
My dad owns a tool and die design/engineering shop, they generally make fairly
small, specialized parts for automotive design. When I was young, I went to
work with him to see what he does, and noticed a wax model of the project they
were working on. He said they model the project by hand to get a good vision
of what they were designing (this was before 3D CAD came around). When they
were nearing completion, they'd present the wax model to the customer to make
sure all the specifications were right. If they were, my dad would complete
the design and send it out to the die makers. The die makers loved having a
handmade physical model of what they had asked for before they paid for the
completed design (which could have had unseen errors).

Fast forward a few years, and my dad acquired a competitor who happened to
have a 3D printer. Now my dad's company would make the design, print it out,
and show it to the customer. One customer did not like this at all, so much in
fact that they sued my dad's company. If the engineers could make these parts
themselves, how long until they could make them with metal? How long before
the die makers were turned redundant? The die makers have a lot of money
invested in very expensive equipment to make these parts, and now 3D printers
can make plastic replicas of them much cheaper (though there are obvious
downsides in terms of scale and tolerance).

When the company filed suit, they dropped the contract with my dad's firm
(which happened to be the die maker's only design shop) and spent all their
contingency funds on the suit. The company was bankrupt before it ever saw
court. So yeah, this technology has a lot of important industries very
concerned.

~~~
eru
Did the suit have merit? Was it in any way contacted to the technology, or
just a revenge?

~~~
freehunter
Gah, I posted a comment and HN ate it.

Here's the gist: I don't know all the legal details because my dad and I are
not that close. The company sued for "unfair competition" or whatever the
legal term is. Since my dad's shop had the full specs and customer list of the
die maker, they were afraid the engineers would cut out the middle man, so to
speak. The die maker wanted them to stop building models completely and
dispose of the printer.

I can't say if the printer was the only factor, but they never had a problem
with the hand-made models.

~~~
eru
Thanks!

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haasted
_donated a 3D printer worth several hundred dollars for him to use at school._

Can a 3D printer really be acquired at this price level now? Does anyone have
any model recommendations in this range?

~~~
jianshen
If you're really interested in buying one, there are a few kickstarter
projects trying to break the sub $1000 market via RepRap designs. Here's one:
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/printrbot/printrbot-
your...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/printrbot/printrbot-your-
first-3d-printer/)

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laglad
I wonder how this affects the mechanical engineering labor distribution in
firms. Perhaps smaller shops like in software?

~~~
tomjen3
Small shops, fewer workers and many more new shops (since they cost little to
start).

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clarebear
This is also the future of recycling. Your soda bottle will become a toy will
become part of your shoes will become...

~~~
ff0066mote
> Your _future_ soda bottle will become a toy will become part of your shoes
> will become...

Our current and past soda bottles have become the great pacific garbage patch.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch>

I think the future of recycling is going to be more largely affected by a
reduction in consumption.

~~~
freehunter
Reducing consumption is, by definition, not recycling. I think what he was
getting at was you will be able to make your waste into useful things, or set
up a recycling shop to collect waste from others.

No need to turn into Al Gore from a lighthearted take on the future of 3D
printing.

~~~
ff0066mote
Please note that I didn't say the future of recycling _is_ the reduction of
consumption, but rather that it would be _more largely affected by_ a
reduction in consumption (than by 3d printing).

Oh, and sorry for briefly turning into Al Gore there. :P Good catch!

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jfoutz
The big winner will be an easy 3d modeler.

~~~
losvedir
> _The big winner will be an easy 3d modeler._

Oh, I agree 100%. I was thinking a phone could be ideal here. You'd just wave
it through the air, drawing what you want, you could review what you've drawn
in the screen and adjust parameters, and it could vibrate to give haptic
feedback to help you draw in a straight line, or let you know when your path
connects to another that you've drawn. Stuff like that.

Unfortunately, it looks like there's too much noise in the accelerometers to
make the double integration to position meaningful. Something like Sensor
Fusion[1] can make it more accurate by incorporating data from the gyroscope
and compass, but even so it's not enough.

In any case, like you I hope someone develops something intuitive to really
help 3D printing take off. The future should be interesting...

[1]<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7JQ7Rpwn2k>

~~~
Arelius
I don't know if you've tried to use 3d non haptic input devices before, turns
out that they suck for modelling. and not due to noise or lack of precision
issues. The main problem is that a general person's absolute 3d positioning
skills are pretty poor, and even there 3D directional skills are pretty damned
poor.

Making general models by waving a phone around would be difficult enough, I
can't imagine trying to use it to create a model detailed enough to actually
print a usable part.

Now, making 3D modellers is actually something I have a lot of experience
with. If anyone wants to have a discussion about how we could actually create
an interface for a 3D modeller targeted at consumer modelling of 3D printable
parts; Well, that's a discussion I'd love to have.

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markrickert
"You wouldn't download a car, would you?"

(sorry, it had to be done)

