Impulse 3D printing Can we print a better tomorrow?
3D printing is often touted as a technology that will reduce waste, reduce carbon emissions and make the world a greener place. But, we’re capricious covetous monkeys and I worry that any gains made by the technology will be eroded by our greed for more and better stuff. I’ll confess to something terrible now: I once bought two HP printers on sale because the second would be cheaper than an additional cartridge. I promptly tossed the first once its cartridge was empty. Imagine the callous destruction we could accomplish with the wholesale commoditization & democratization of manufacturing through 3D printing. So, what should we do? Is there anything we can do to guard ourselves against ourselves?
A while ago Matt Forsythe asked a question on Twitter: “What will be the 3D printer equivalent of office-jerks printing out all their emails?” I replied, “people will impulse 3D print 20 pairs of sunglasses, pick one and toss the rest.”
Impulse 3D printing has been a real worry for me for a while now. We think we’re working on improving technology and services that can lead to quicker and better product design. We think we can punch through the morass of mass production and produce products that actually fit people, products that are designed to their specifications. We’re working on a revolution on your behalf. And as you can guess we’re optimists. At Materialise I’ve met people that have literally spent decades being optimistic about 3D printing becoming mainstream, whilst watching children age from toddlers into adulthood.
We’d like this revolution to happen now and we are convinced it will be a net benefit for humankind. But, I’m sure that Thomas Midgely Jr., famously the inventor of both CFCs and leaded gasoline, was as optimistic about his inventions. To complicate matters further, humankind is a rather encompassing word. We have sinners and saints as well as much in between. And it’s the collective apathy of the fat bit of the ball curve, the bystanders, that will commit you, flailing, to the black cold weight of the depths of the lake. I’d love to be able to believe that real destruction on this earth is caused by evil masterminds living in volcanoes plotting to end it all. But, the truth is even scarier. Most widespread destruction is caused by inertia and a mispricing of freely available assets. A limit to the range of motion of the invisible hand would seem to be required.
I’m Joris, and I’m an impulse 3D printer. I’ve ordered, made and had people make lots of stuff that was completely unnecessary. Now, most of this I’ve done for work and I’m one of a small group of people that can have anything made on a whim. But, as printers improve as services such as i.materialise make it easier to order things more and more people will be dragged into the circle of being able to make anything on impulse. I do not currently see a solution to this problem.
For Alcoholics there is a medication called Antabuse. You take it and it makes you gravely ill when you at a later stage succumb to the temptation to drink alcohol again. A medicine such as that, harsh as it is, that differentiates between the asynchronous nature of our temptations and goals, could be a solution to the problem. But, I cannot fathom a medicine for mankind that would make us sick enough to our stomachs now to keep us from destroying more of our home than we have already.
Do you have any ideas?
Image, Creative Commons Attribution: Genista.
