“How many people will be qualified and be able to find work ... all industry is 3d printing ... 3d printers ... 3d print the money ... 3d printed ... 3d printing ... 3d printed robots ... 3d printed office cubes ... own 3d printers... monthly fees for everything instead?...”
Great series of circularities.
Digital-pioneer optimists are morons. Optimistic, ignorant, overbearing morons: just because a few trends have been hopeful, for a few years, we dare not assume that all conditions will improve, indefinitely, without exception. Trend is not destiny.
3D printing cannot replace more traditional methods of manufacture and construction in all cases. For example: it’s not going to make firearms.
Firearms require tempered steel: springs and hardened parts (hammers, triggers, sears, pins etc) simply cannot be made the way 3D printers build up material in increments, to create an object.
And final assembly cannot be accomplished by tossing all the parts into a box for a robot to slap together. Fitting is always required: some need more, some need less. Handwork and a trained eye, seasoned by good judgment and experience, are essential. Human skill.
I do agree with some of what you are saying but also disagree in some ways.
When computers were first invented, everyone was talking about computers translating languages. Turns out it was a tougher nut to crack than they thought. Meanwhile, we used LED’s as that little indicator on our stereos way back in the 70’s. Then they discovered how to alter the chemical compound to make multiple colors and finally, white. And now the “white” can be tuned to any color temperature you want. and they are revolutionizing lighting as much as the invention of the incandescent bulb.
And back in the early 70’s, a remote controlled TV was a costly option. It was getting better and better, but then one day the electronic tuner was invented and with it the infrared LED remote. Now you can get remote controlled LED candles.
Yep, candles are virtually obsolete now.
And I compare the old mechanical tv remote control to the modern 3D printer. Give it a decade or two.
What technology does, often is not improve the current way of doing something, but attack it from a completely different angle, suddenly making the once impossible into a very simple and cheaply done thing.
Think Digital Photography. And we are nowhere near done exploiting that little gem of a technology. Many of us are STILL thinking of it from a “film” paradigm.
I think that in some ways the author is overly optimistic and in others not nearly optimistic enough.