Jerf, a couple points: 1. How are those opposing forces? The first statement would be me selecting an item out of a catalog and printing it as a designer inten

Jerf, a couple points: 1. How are those opposing forces? The first statement would be me selecting an item out of a catalog and printing it as a designer intended, so a traditional ecommerce system, but with no delivery, just on demand manufacturing. The second would be more of an open source model, but customization could be limited through DRM. 2. I didn't say people would need to have degrees in mechanical design, just that they would have to become skilled in it. For most people this is going to take an investment of hundreds of hours. 2. I think you are underestimating the "ease" that plastics for manufacture can be lined up. I think people are lulled into a sense of ease when it comes to 3D printing because we have seen such dramatic improvement in info tech and desktop printing. In the case of software your raw materials are 1 & 0's with 2D printing you have cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. Moving into atoms the variety expands incredibly quickly. Materials all have quirks and the process that manipulates them further complicates the matter. 3. With electronics you are still going to face issues. First what is the "ink cartridge" analog for electronic components? How do you handle the regulatory issues? UL, FCC? I'm sure it can be done, its just not that easy. 4. 3D printing is a 20 year old industry. It faces long development cycles and requires significant and costly improvements in material science. Thanks for your generosity, but I will stand by my skepticism. In closing I don't doubt the rise of "open source" manufacturing. I just don't think 3D printing will have major role in it. You seem to have confidence and a vision for how to make 3D printing ubiquitous. I hope you help move the state of the art forward.