Comments on: The legislation of fabrication – should 3D printing be outlawed? http://futurismic.com/2009/12/17/the-legislation-of-fabrication-should-3d-printing-be-outlawed/ Presenting the fact and fiction of tomorrow since 2001 Sat, 19 May 2012 23:03:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Tom Marcinko http://futurismic.com/2009/12/17/the-legislation-of-fabrication-should-3d-printing-be-outlawed/comment-page-1/#comment-62818 Tom Marcinko Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:40:15 +0000 http://futurismic.com/?p=9838#comment-62818 The possible parallels to my country's (mostly unsuccessful) attempts to regulate handguns are almost too delicious. "From my cold dead fingers..." The possible parallels to my country’s (mostly unsuccessful) attempts to regulate handguns are almost too delicious.

“From my cold dead fingers…”

]]> By: Robynq http://futurismic.com/2009/12/17/the-legislation-of-fabrication-should-3d-printing-be-outlawed/comment-page-1/#comment-62097 Robynq Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:52:29 +0000 http://futurismic.com/?p=9838#comment-62097 Why wouldn't an assembler have a recycle function? Something you print breaks, is outmoded, outneeded, or just plain unlikely to please the eye, toss it in, have it melted down and reused? Why wouldn’t an assembler have a recycle function? Something you print breaks, is outmoded, outneeded, or just plain unlikely to please the eye, toss it in, have it melted down and reused?

]]> By: khannea http://futurismic.com/2009/12/17/the-legislation-of-fabrication-should-3d-printing-be-outlawed/comment-page-1/#comment-62000 khannea Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:59:28 +0000 http://futurismic.com/?p=9838#comment-62000 Can we discuss standards where these devices print their parts with a recognizable product tag (chemical or microchip based), designating components, creator, creation date, use, documentation? And most of all - how to disassemble it. I see no reason to assume that disassembling nanofabricates to be several orders of magnitude more expensive than the reverse. The author as such remains blissfully stuck in his flatlander paradigm while staring in distress at the ocean, speculating you might fall off at the far end. I have a different prediction for him - in a few decades you'll see massive churning nanofabricators ripping up landfills for resources, disassmbling fossil barbie dolls, newspapers, condoms, mac wrappers, tupperware, toothpaste tubes, corroded batteries and halfdecayed cats. The government will sell the right to process landfills to nanorecycling companies. Eventually western companies will bid against hyderabad landfills (of which there are already many) for plush contracts to turn landfills into 'energy-forests', or raw materials. My hope is this recycling potential will eventually extend well into atmospheric carbons - the biggest prize of all ! Please don't scrub out all the CO2 for your fullerene industries, or we'll be having to add even *more* orbital nighttime reflectors to heat the planet. Can we discuss standards where these devices print their parts with a recognizable product tag (chemical or microchip based), designating components, creator, creation date, use, documentation? And most of all – how to disassemble it. I see no reason to assume that disassembling nanofabricates to be several orders of magnitude more expensive than the reverse. The author as such remains blissfully stuck in his flatlander paradigm while staring in distress at the ocean, speculating you might fall off at the far end.

I have a different prediction for him – in a few decades you’ll see massive churning nanofabricators ripping up landfills for resources, disassmbling fossil barbie dolls, newspapers, condoms, mac wrappers, tupperware, toothpaste tubes, corroded batteries and halfdecayed cats. The government will sell the right to process landfills to nanorecycling companies. Eventually western companies will bid against hyderabad landfills (of which there are already many) for plush contracts to turn landfills into ‘energy-forests’, or raw materials.

My hope is this recycling potential will eventually extend well into atmospheric carbons – the biggest prize of all ! Please don’t scrub out all the CO2 for your fullerene industries, or we’ll be having to add even *more* orbital nighttime reflectors to heat the planet.

]]> By: Tim Maly http://futurismic.com/2009/12/17/the-legislation-of-fabrication-should-3d-printing-be-outlawed/comment-page-1/#comment-61534 Tim Maly Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:28:07 +0000 http://futurismic.com/?p=9838#comment-61534 Horatius, What we have to figure out is if home-fabbing is like home gardening or like home mining. Efficiencies of scale matter. The reason that we don't rely primarily on home gardening to feed us is that most of us frankly aren't that good at it and we do better if we do other things, both as an individual and as a society. You mention oil and energy use as a problem. On this we agree. But all the home fabbing gear so far (I am hopeful for a change) is petroleum-based and it uses energy that is highly probable to be coming from carbon spewing sources. Transporting material and building it on-site is going to be less carbon efficient than building it near a hydro-dam and then transporting the results. Horatius,

What we have to figure out is if home-fabbing is like home gardening or like home mining.

Efficiencies of scale matter. The reason that we don’t rely primarily on home gardening to feed us is that most of us frankly aren’t that good at it and we do better if we do other things, both as an individual and as a society.

You mention oil and energy use as a problem. On this we agree. But all the home fabbing gear so far (I am hopeful for a change) is petroleum-based and it uses energy that is highly probable to be coming from carbon spewing sources. Transporting material and building it on-site is going to be less carbon efficient than building it near a hydro-dam and then transporting the results.

]]> By: Robert Koslover http://futurismic.com/2009/12/17/the-legislation-of-fabrication-should-3d-printing-be-outlawed/comment-page-1/#comment-61281 Robert Koslover Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:17:17 +0000 http://futurismic.com/?p=9838#comment-61281 "Should 3D printing be outlawed?” Sure, why not? But only in those countries that have no interest in actually mattering to anyone in the future. After all, who really needs: (1) technological progress and/or (2) individual freedom, right? Sigh. Note also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso Honorable engineers deserve to live among more sensible citizens. “Should 3D printing be outlawed?” Sure, why not? But only in those countries that have no interest in actually mattering to anyone in the future. After all, who really needs: (1) technological progress and/or (2) individual freedom, right? Sigh. Note also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso Honorable engineers deserve to live among more sensible citizens.

]]>