Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Talk About a Game Changer; 3d-printable Guns

Itse · 05-06-2013, 04:50 PM

Well, they already mention in that article that this gun doesn't need to have any metal parts except for a nail.

The game changer part is that while yes, you can make a gun right now if you know what you're doing, with this you can make one even if you don't. A friend of mine already has those plans. He is a very nerdy guy, who otherwise would have no idea as to where he could get an unlicensed gun, and he certainly couldn't build one. But now all he needs is a 3d printer, and he can churn out as many as he likes.

Kind of makes the idea of gun control go *poof*

As to whole business models going extinct, think
a) anything that's about manufacturing smallish items for which packaging and handling are a large part of the price. Which is actually a ton of stuff from toys to board games to spare parts for just about anything.
b) all the middle men between the designer and the customer, like delivery services and internet shops.

Let's take the already mentioned dildos because it's always funny, but really you could talk about anything that's not electronic and not huge. Right now you often have one company who designs it, one who makes it, one who stores it, one who sells it and any number from one to half a dozen who deliver it to the customer. Plus the company who makes the packaging and so forth. That's a lot of middle-men.

With 3d printing, you can remove everything except the designer and the customer; although the company that does the sales will propably have a role in man cases. Still, that's a lot of steps removed. There are a lot of companies that make a living by being the middle-men between the designer and the customer.

IMO it's much the same as what digitalization has done to music. Today you won't think it does much, and five years from now you will think back how inconvenient it was when you couldn't just print a new copy of the same lamp or hockey helmet you just broke. Because that's one of the things that will happen. Buy something once and you have as many copies as you like for the price of raw materials.

05-06-2013, 04:50 PM	#27
Itse Franchise Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: Helsinki, Finland Exp:	Well, they already mention in that article that this gun doesn't need to have any metal parts except for a nail. The game changer part is that while yes, you can make a gun right now if you know what you're doing, with this you can make one even if you don't. A friend of mine already has those plans. He is a very nerdy guy, who otherwise would have no idea as to where he could get an unlicensed gun, and he certainly couldn't build one. But now all he needs is a 3d printer, and he can churn out as many as he likes. Kind of makes the idea of gun control go poof As to whole business models going extinct, think a) anything that's about manufacturing smallish items for which packaging and handling are a large part of the price. Which is actually a ton of stuff from toys to board games to spare parts for just about anything. b) all the middle men between the designer and the customer, like delivery services and internet shops. Let's take the already mentioned dildos because it's always funny, but really you could talk about anything that's not electronic and not huge. Right now you often have one company who designs it, one who makes it, one who stores it, one who sells it and any number from one to half a dozen who deliver it to the customer. Plus the company who makes the packaging and so forth. That's a lot of middle-men. With 3d printing, you can remove everything except the designer and the customer; although the company that does the sales will propably have a role in man cases. Still, that's a lot of steps removed. There are a lot of companies that make a living by being the middle-men between the designer and the customer. IMO it's much the same as what digitalization has done to music. Today you won't think it does much, and five years from now you will think back how inconvenient it was when you couldn't just print a new copy of the same lamp or hockey helmet you just broke. Because that's one of the things that will happen. Buy something once and you have as many copies as you like for the price of raw materials.