The Future of 3D Printing
Posted in web design brisbane on December 22nd, 2010 by Maurice Kindermann
To quote William Gibson:
The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed”.
We’ve seen them in action, you can build your own, ShapeWays sells merchandise, so how many years before I can just torrent all my Xmas presents and print them at home?
It’s interesting to think if the capability to produce hardware was in your hands what the piracy laws would be. After all, bootleg cigarettes and alcohol are illegal because they avoid paying tax. So surely producing your own 3D items at home might have the same consequences, I’m sure Lego would agree. It will be an interesting point of contention in the future.
What if the hardware you produce is sentient? Is that giving birth and do you need to register it? Can you get benefits if your AI is dependent on you? Would it be a crime to terminate an Artificially Intelligent robot? What if its not sentient yet, but it will be and its too “young” to choose?
Thoughts? 
It will be great achievement if actually 3D printing becomes the reality.