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This is huge, it means that laser cutters will be even cheaper than they are now, and that much more ubiquitous. Laser cutters are already making their way into
by InclinedPlane 12y ago
This is huge, it means that laser cutters will be even cheaper than they are now, and that much more ubiquitous. Laser cutters are already making their way into small scale shops and hackerspaces, this'll just hasten that. But it also has a ton of applications elsewhere. Likely it will lower the cost and increase access to the minimum set of machine tools necessary to sustain a developed economy, which has implications for the entirety of the developing world as well as further afield in things like Mars colonization.
Additionally, it makes things such as low-footprint or modular factories, configurable/programmable or wholly automated factories, and self-replicating factories more of a possibility in the near future.
- Kliment 12y agoYeah, that might happen, in 20 years when the patents expire. Before that, this will be much higher cost than tube lasers which anyone can make and repair.
- noir_lord 12y ago> in 20 years when the patents expire. or when you can order them on ebay from china in a couple of years. This seems to be the way it goes.
- oh_sigh 12y agoWhat would be the point of a business inventing a laser that is cheaper and more efficient than current lasers if they weren't going to be cheaper to own than other lasers?
- Kliment 12y agoReduced weight, reduced power consumption (power infrastructure is expensive to set up even where power is cheap), reduced size, better reliability (diode lasers have no loss of gas pressure issues), better power density. All reasons to go for this setup even if it's much more expensive than gas lasers.