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...the same spoons you can buy for 80c... if you live next to Walmart. The killer app for 3D printers would be to supply whatever it is you want whenever you w

by foxylad 12y ago

...the same spoons you can buy for 80c... if you live next to Walmart. The killer app for 3D printers would be to supply whatever it is you want whenever you want it - even if you live in Arrowtown NZ (lucky me!). I see a massive battle coming between Amazon's logistics on one hand, and the effectiveness of 3D printers on the other. 3D printers' limitations (plastic-only, no colour, slow) mean Amazon is safe for now, but once I can print my measuring spoons faster and cheaper than Amazon can ship them, that's a killer app.

Kurtz79 12y ago
"...the same spoons you can buy for 80c... if you live next to Walmart." So, Walmart is the only world provider of 80c plastic spoons ? Let´s be serious, unless you live in the middle of a jungle or a desert (in which case you´ll probably value more a reusable metal spoon over a 3D-printed one), you´ll rarely be less that 30min drive from a supermarket or convenience store (to which you´ll need to go anyway to buy some definitely non-3d-printable-yet food) that will probably have what you are looking for. Even if your reasoning is sound, I believe your situation it's kind of an exception, most people live "next to Walmart", so it´s hard to think about it as a killer application.
- TuringTest 12y ago
  This technology makes living far away from Walmart a much more palatable experience. Combined with self-sustaining energy sources like solar panels, it could be the basis for a different urban configuration that doesn't depend on direct access to centralized distribution networks. In the medium term I can see "high-tech hippie" communes of young educated hipsters moving to the outskirts of cities, living in plastic domes, telecommuting, composting their waste and 3D printing parts for their maker-culture activities. If this catches on, this could be the basis for less dense cities.

by foxylad 12y ago

Kurtz79 12y ago

"...the same spoons you can buy for 80c... if you live next to Walmart." So, Walmart is the only world provider of 80c plastic spoons ? Let´s be serious, unless you live in the middle of a jungle or a desert (in which case you´ll probably value more a reusable metal spoon over a 3D-printed one), you´ll rarely be less that 30min drive from a supermarket or convenience store (to which you´ll need to go anyway to buy some definitely non-3d-printable-yet food) that will probably have what you are looking for. Even if your reasoning is sound, I believe your situation it's kind of an exception, most people live "next to Walmart", so it´s hard to think about it as a killer application.

TuringTest 12y ago
This technology makes living far away from Walmart a much more palatable experience. Combined with self-sustaining energy sources like solar panels, it could be the basis for a different urban configuration that doesn't depend on direct access to centralized distribution networks. In the medium term I can see "high-tech hippie" communes of young educated hipsters moving to the outskirts of cities, living in plastic domes, telecommuting, composting their waste and 3D printing parts for their maker-culture activities. If this catches on, this could be the basis for less dense cities.