3 ms·

I think you make an excellent meta point. I would love to know why this happens. Why are some technology super hyped and others aren't? Maybe it is a stochastic

by baxtr 6y ago

I think you make an excellent meta point. I would love to know why this happens. Why are some technology super hyped and others aren't? Maybe it is a stochastic process and somehow one term gets amplified and gets the attention of the MBAs and consultants. Dunno. Love to hear some theories

dmurray 6y ago
I don't think it's just a random process. The coolest-sounding technologies are the ones where you can describe to a layman how it works, but they've still rarely or never seen something that works that way. 3d-printing is perfect tech for this: the principle is graspable by anyone, it makes for cool stop motion videos, yet it's still rare in practice. Injection moulding is too commonplace: we've cast metal in moulds for thousands of years. A cool name helps as well, of course. 3D printing is definitely sexier than "additive manufacturing".
2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
In this case I think it’s obvious if you know the pros and cons of 3D printing. 3D printing has a major pro: It may be slow to make 1 thing, but I can make anything I want change it quickly. I got a 3D printer a couple years ago. It’s pretty amazing. I can recreate broken parts, design improvements to existing things and prototype them without any help. These days with so much emphasis on reducing our environmental footprint, why would be interested in mass production?
saberdancer 6y ago
3d printing is hyped because you can get a 3D printer at home and have fun prototyping. Injection molding is a industrial process and isn't really accessible to people.
blihp 6y ago
It's usually a function of how much time/energy/money companies in a space put into generating the hype. There are teams of people at the better funded companies working to arrange interviews, plant stories, have influencers promote things and so on... all in an attempt to build awareness and eventually help them increase sales. It's basically an early stage marketing strategy until it's known how big the market is and how big a piece of it a given company is able to get and then more traditional marketing approaches take over. Worst case: the company runs out of money which will also turn off the hype machine.

by baxtr 6y ago

dmurray 6y ago

I don't think it's just a random process. The coolest-sounding technologies are the ones where you can describe to a layman how it works, but they've still rarely or never seen something that works that way. 3d-printing is perfect tech for this: the principle is graspable by anyone, it makes for cool stop motion videos, yet it's still rare in practice. Injection moulding is too commonplace: we've cast metal in moulds for thousands of years. A cool name helps as well, of course. 3D printing is definitely sexier than "additive manufacturing".

2muchcoffeeman 6y ago

In this case I think it’s obvious if you know the pros and cons of 3D printing. 3D printing has a major pro: It may be slow to make 1 thing, but I can make anything I want change it quickly. I got a 3D printer a couple years ago. It’s pretty amazing. I can recreate broken parts, design improvements to existing things and prototype them without any help. These days with so much emphasis on reducing our environmental footprint, why would be interested in mass production?

saberdancer 6y ago

3d printing is hyped because you can get a 3D printer at home and have fun prototyping. Injection molding is a industrial process and isn't really accessible to people.

blihp 6y ago

It's usually a function of how much time/energy/money companies in a space put into generating the hype. There are teams of people at the better funded companies working to arrange interviews, plant stories, have influencers promote things and so on... all in an attempt to build awareness and eventually help them increase sales. It's basically an early stage marketing strategy until it's known how big the market is and how big a piece of it a given company is able to get and then more traditional marketing approaches take over. Worst case: the company runs out of money which will also turn off the hype machine.