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The big deal about RepRap isn't so much what it can do but the fact that it is: 1) Low cost 2) Open source 3) Self-replicating These attributes make it a lo

The big deal about RepRap isn't so much what it can do but the fact that it is: 1) Low cost 2) Open source 3) Self-replicating These attributes make it a lot more economically accessible to people who wouldn't otherwise be in a position to learn about and use this technology. It could allow a bootstrapping hardware startup to produce their first product prototype. The economic value that could result is immense. Just because RepRap doesn't meet your needs doesn't mean it's not worth talking about.

Retric 16y ago
It's only Self-replicating in the least useful way possible. The components it can create that are used to make more copy's of it's self could be vary cheap to buy in other ways. AKA if you used injection molding and sold it as a kit the overall costs would decrease (assuming a reasonable market existed for them). I am not saying it needs to be able to use dirt, sunlight, and water to make another copy. Just that the components need to be a little simpler before the cost really drops.
- evangineer 16y ago
  I could be wrong but I do believe that RepRap was the first working self-replicating device after decades of theorizing on the topic. Sure it can be improved on massively, but you must acknowledge that it is at least a step in the right direction.
  - maxharris 16y ago
    It's a step, alright, but how do you know that it's a step in the right direction? RepRap has not set very much of world on fire yet. When I can do more than print out more than a low-res plastic coathook, I'll get excited. How many years will it be before I can replace my car's crappy plastic door panel with a high-quality printed one? Will it ever happen? It doesn't seem like this will happen soon enough for me to hold out on buying a new car.
  - Retric 16y ago
    No, it's just a marketing gimmick. Most automated fabrication device can make parts for a copy of that same device, if given the spec's. The reality is the fact it's open source is what allows people to make copy's of them, not any capability of the device it's self.

Retric 16y ago

It's only Self-replicating in the least useful way possible. The components it can create that are used to make more copy's of it's self could be vary cheap to buy in other ways. AKA if you used injection molding and sold it as a kit the overall costs would decrease (assuming a reasonable market existed for them). I am not saying it needs to be able to use dirt, sunlight, and water to make another copy. Just that the components need to be a little simpler before the cost really drops.

evangineer 16y ago
I could be wrong but I do believe that RepRap was the first working self-replicating device after decades of theorizing on the topic. Sure it can be improved on massively, but you must acknowledge that it is at least a step in the right direction.
- maxharris 16y ago
  It's a step, alright, but how do you know that it's a step in the right direction? RepRap has not set very much of world on fire yet. When I can do more than print out more than a low-res plastic coathook, I'll get excited. How many years will it be before I can replace my car's crappy plastic door panel with a high-quality printed one? Will it ever happen? It doesn't seem like this will happen soon enough for me to hold out on buying a new car.
- Retric 16y ago
  No, it's just a marketing gimmick. Most automated fabrication device can make parts for a copy of that same device, if given the spec's. The reality is the fact it's open source is what allows people to make copy's of them, not any capability of the device it's self.