Some serious un-thoughtful outfit run out of someone's basement, "Formlabs", is producing 3D printers that can make complex circuits. So now you can make triggering devices for bombs or toasters using the raw material found in any kitchen. I think there was a science fiction short story about this mayhem back in the 1990's. The "printers" in that long ago future-cast were called "Makers".
Cute.
Great now I can make an ashtray whenever I need one. Comrades you get that this is bullshit, and like VCRs in 1970 just for rich nerds? ....you got that right? 3D trinket making will play itself out, and vanish. Industry will use it for certain things. However the main users most non-opioid addicts foresee will be terrorist of all sorts. (...nothing against them opioids.) Assorted maniacs,...Nazis religious nutters. That stupid kid at school. The weird guy in the editing lab the pissed off boy friend the moron that just feels like it will use it for making undetectable firearms, and bomb parts. In fact that's the first thing folks chatted about online when these 3D things showed up.
Yeah sure they'll be fig-leaf safeguards. However any bunch of 14 year olds will get around these in an afternoon. Thank you "Formlabs" for making the world more interesting. Let me know when you patent your "Mr. Surprise" pocket Anthrax nail bomb.
Stay Tuned.
I agree completely. Whoop-de-fuckin-do. A tiny handful may use this tech to create life-saving medical devices - which will be patented by corporations and available only at exhorbitant prices - but the vast majority will make dipshit devices. Heaven forfend we should use them for making works of art.
ReplyDeleteWhen you come right down to it, how much has digital tech expanded our creative possibilities? Fussing with NURBS profiles to make synthetic images for another Shrek movie, with its hopelessly banal dialogue and drooping plot lines, is no match for traditional artist's mediums.
Z