Short Jaunts to the Store are Out, but the 3-D Printer is In
“You could go to Mattel.com, download Barbie, scan your Mom’s head, slap the head on Barbie and print it out,” suggests Joe Shenberger, the director of sales for Desktop Factory. “You could have a true custom one-off toy.”
On Earth, we take for granted everything around us. We either jog to the store or jump into some form of vehicle and head down the road to get what we need, or what we have run out of. But on Mars or on the Moon, it will be an entirely different situation. Something like camping out, but a whole lot further, as we need to pack in advance what we think we will need, want, or utilize.
But what happens if something breaks, as planning ahead will require making a list and checking it twice—all the time hoping everything is covered, as turning around and heading back to Earth is impossible on today’s budget or time frame. Two years for a ballpoint pen or battery may not be justified, any more than a major piece off a telescope or rover. The first people to colonize the planets will be no better off than the early pioneers on Earth, regardless of the advanced technology of which we are so far advanced from our early ancestors.
But what if we could push a button, and have an exact replica of a much-needed part through a 3-D printer by downloading 3-D plans online, then printing it out? How exciting it was when we used to watch Star Wars, and even more exciting now that we are only a few years from its reality. Yes, these printers have been in the making for about ten years, originally made to test part designs for many products—cars, trucks, and airplanes—to name a few. Their price was $100,000 when they were first developed, but this year the printer will cost about $15,000 with prices expected to lower enough for small offices and copy stories to afford them.
One such company, the Desktop Factory, has developed a 3-D printer for its consumers that was first started by IdeaLab, considered to be a technology incubator which is offering its printers for $4,995 this year. How it is able to afford such low prices is due to the usage of a halogen light bulb to melt nylon powder, which will price the 3-D printers at $1,000 within the next four years.
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Technical Concerns, The Gear to Get There. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
