3D printing

[javasaurus]

This morning, blueeowyn linked to a site about 3D math art produced by a three-dimensional printing technology. Similar technology has been suggested for use in manufacturing computer chips and some drugs products. Sounds great, right? Like a slow replicator from Star Trek. But the legal woes may be ahead of us...

Here's an article that suggests that such technology could lead to "Napster for devices." Why should you pay for a new DVD player if you can print one for the cost of the "ink" after downloading the digital plans?

If digital music and books screwed up copyright, what will 3D printers do to patents?

Comments

[wilhelmina-d.livejournal.com]

I had never thought about that. That's an issue they never really addressed when using replicators.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

There's an episode of ST:TNG where the crew rescues a threesome of frozen people from the 21st century -- the three were cryogenically preserved until their health problems could be cured -- and the crew tries to explain that money no longer has meaning on Earth, that everybody has everything they need, everything they want, and they provide to the society according to their abilities. So patent ideas are a moot point by the time of Star
Trek's energy-based replicators.