I've written before on my interest in 3d printing, the desire to get a printer, and around the fact that I don't really need one or have the space to keep it in the apartment. I also happen to consume a lot of 3d-printing content on youtube because it seems to be such an exciting, wild idea that might open up the world of creativity and 'making'.
But. There's something I've been noticing lately. A lot of creators on youtube are printing like hundreds of kilos (!) of plastics every year, and doing wild things like sanding, filing etcetera of the created plastic materials. And all for...not much use? Then they're printing and throwing away many many versions of 'prototypes' of their final products because they didn't turn out the right way.
I can see the need and usefulness of 3d printing at industrial scale. And maybe at human scale. But the more I consume 3d printing content the more it seems to be that at a personal level it's not really an 'additive' process, as much as an incredibly wasteful process, maybe not so efficient after all. And mind you, all the subtractive processes involve 'better' materials like wood and metal, whose shavings can be reused and aren't literally harmful to humans. The more I think of it, the more it seems that 3d printing at a personal level is not good for anybody, even if it becomes a thing (which again, I have my doubts). I would love to be wrong here, and let it bring in an era of unbounded creativity and productivity and efficiency and cost savings from having to transport produced materials. But there are reasons to doubt.
Maybe 3d printing will decentralize production, but not commoditify it, that seems to be the most likely case. In any case, gonna keep my eyes and ears open for progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell me what you think. I'll read, promise.