Could 3d Printers Put Folks Out of Business?

[Alana]

Initially I was really excited about 3D printers (and I still am...mostly). Think of all the widgets I could make!

But is it possible for this scenario to come true: Lets say I create a plastic widget that I take to market (ie: I get a patent and start selling it at trade shows). My widget is all plastic—a simple, innovative design.
What happens when 3D printers become the norm and anyone can simply print out whatever plastic creation their heart desires? Can Jo-Shmo now simply copy my design and print one out for himself? Will enough Jo-Shmos put me out of business?

 

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[ALSL]

No.

People can make their own shit now too. Shit that they'd pay $1 or $2 for. Shit that they'd pay $400 for.
It's not hard to make a chair. It's not hard to make a table. It's really also not that hard to make your own plates.

In fact, people have printers, and most people STILL pay like $5 for a hallmark card.
Anything that people can duplicate in China, they already do.

It's all about the quality of your work and how easy it is for someone to buy it from you.

Think netflix. It is SUPER SUPER easy for me to google the title of a show and stream it. NO PROBLEM. And I do that. I would never pay for a streaming service. There are just too many free sources out there. But that takes work. I am not netflix's target market.

In my head, I think anybody who pays for netflix is either an idiot or lazy (obvioulsy hyperbolizing right now, since I don't ACTUALLY think they're idiots or lazy). Why pay $7.99 PER MONTH for something I can get for FREE.

Well, at LEAST 27 MILLION people disagree with me. Netflix reported 945 MILLION in revenue.

It BOGGLES my mind.

Digital media is the EASIEST thing to find FREE sources for because of the ABUNDANCE of pirating and how EASY it is to pirate. Yet people would rather pay $7.99/month, that's like almost $100 A YEAR, to go on Netflix.

Why? Cause Netflix's target market would rather not have to think and not have to work to get what they want. They are willing to pay that premium to have everything in high quality and in an easy to use platform.

It's the same with your widget.

Sure, people who are going to abuse their 3D printers will do it. But that's the same for the forever pirates. They will NEVER pay for digital media. Just like the people who will abuse their 3D printers will NEVER buy your widget.

But there will be people who will. You just have to find a way to reach those people.

 

[GPM]

I assume that they probably could if you entire business was based on one plastic item.

Crying or wanting to kill 3d printing is like Block-buster wanting to hold on to only their rental business, it did not make sense. The world will keep moving and it doesn’t care about you or your product.

In today’s fast paced world you either are continually adapting and changing or you stand still and die.

 

[dknise]

I think you'd need to re-examine the market and who your target consumer is. People can't just "print stuff out," they need a blueprint. Rather than selling the physical product, you could sell the design and blueprints for a print. Maybe that also identifies a need for a controlled marketplace for those plans, where one sale will get you one print to prevent pirating.

 

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[The-J]

Depends on how sophisticated 3d printers get. People said the same thing about computer and, sure as shit, whole industries collapsed once computers became the norm.

 

[FreeMan]

I think you'd need to re-examine the market and who your target consumer is. People can't just "print stuff out," they need a blueprint. Rather than selling the physical product, you could sell the design and blueprints for a print. Maybe that also identifies a need for a controlled marketplace for those plans, where one sale will get you one print to prevent pirating.

I think a 3D marketplace is a great idea. I have thought about creating a product for the makers market and people interested in 3D printing that would help them improve their designs (I used to be an industrial designer). As the saying goes, sometimes its better to sell shovels than digging for the gold.

Though if your product has some simple mechanical feature that you spent time fine tuning (e.g clicking or spring action, snap fittings), that could make it a bit harder to replicate the exact feel/functionality of your design. Unless of course they have a 3D scanner that is super accurate and can reverse engineer your design

And if your product has some special finishing or design treatment, that could definitely make it unique too.

 

[MCD]

Even if the 3D printer eliminates some business, there will be many others created by it. I'm sure there are countless opportunities that will come that we have yet to discover. Just think about computers, as The-J said, computers eliminated many industries, but new industries like software and the internet more than made up for it. Aside from that, patents will still be protected by the government, the piracy laws will most likely adapt to account for 3D printing and pirating physical objects.

 

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[Alana]

Thanks for all the feedback.

This was just a hypothetical scenario (I’m not making plastic products). I’ve always been the type of person to see something, then go home and make it (my clothes, my furniture, my food, my barn, even my beer).
So I get that anyone can make a majority of the stuff we have around the house, but most folks don’t (too lazy, don’t have the mad skillz, too busy, etc), but I wonder how the 3D (and the 4D—which just blows my mind) will affect various businesses.
Will it expand our creativity and possibilities overall as oppose to limit it? I think so, I’m just interested to see how it pans out.

 

[CEBenz]

What I see is, when 3d printing technology it improves, it may well change the face of manufacturing. But it has a ways to go. I work in aerospace and I've seen some of our tooling fixtures come off 3d printer, but the materials aren't yet to a point where we can actually print the parts and have them meet specification. I'm not sure if they ever will be. But I can see where, in much less critical items, it could eliminate many steps of the manufacturing process. At the very least, it can significantly bring down the cost of prototyping. Ultimately, I think we'll see a drop in some costs because of it.

 

[dknise]

and the 4D—which just blows my mind.

What's the 4D??? hahaha is it a 3d printer that prints an object that changes with time?



Also... interesting question that I'll be looking up.

Are most 3d printers voxel based? Everything I see looks chunky like 3d pixels were printed, where as real 3d products should probably be 3 dimensional vectors right? I'm confused as to why the creators would purposely choose the lesser option while designing...

 

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[Talisman]

I think a 3D marketplace is a great idea

This sounds like a good idea. Quick google search for 'buy 3d printer blueprint' found this:
Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects

And a few others.

 

[PSDSH]

Interesting discussion.

I just had 10 plastic prototype parts made on a 3d printer...the first one cost me $175 and then they were $30 a piece after that. Of course that doesn't include the CAD costs.

 

[CEBenz]

This sounds like a good idea. Quick google search for 'buy 3d printer blueprint' found this:
Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects

And a few others.

There's also Shapeways.

 

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[Alana]

What's the 4D???

“4D printing is essentially scanning the object using high resolution 3D printers and using prototype machines to create a real replica of the copied object.”

Here’s an article describing it (with a photo/video that shows what a product printed outta one of these suckers looks like):

4D Printers

 

[EastWind]

Yes, some people will get put out of business. Everyone won't. The plastic clip of my bluetooth headset broke, if I had a 3D printer, I could print one and not have to buy a replacement. I won't be able to print a Mac airbook anytime soon.

 

[InMotion]

Not likely. I would bet more plastic is used in component parts than standalone products. As a rule, it usually costs much more to make one part, of anything, than one million. So, until they get as cheap as regular printers and ink, I don't see anything happening in that regard.

 

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[Kak]

Creative destruction, we need it to progress. Are you sad that the telegraph companies went out of business because of the evolution to modern phones?

 

[infinitus]

While 3d Technology is great, its rarer to see someone with the skillset to come up with a great idea, and then bring it to the marketplace. Its like a paintbrush you could pain a masterpiece, but most people can only draw a box with an arrow pointing at it, I see its the same with technology. The most interesting idea of the use of 3d tech is that it might make weapons easy to make and will balance the power into the hands of the people, which I thought was a controversial but fascinating idea

 

[deepestblue]

[video=youtube;X5AZzOw7FwA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5AZzOw7FwA[/video]

 

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[rorschach]

I just did a little experiment with 3d printing. I made myself an ipad/phone stand and it arrived in the mail today. Super awesome! :groove: I used shapeways to print out the 3d model.

My first impression is that it's just really cool to design something yourself and have it on your desk in two weeks later. I just can't help but think that this thing that's holding my phone right now came out of my head. lol!

I don't think it will eliminate traditional manufacturing though. Not yet.
It's still a bit expensive. The stand I created cost me $35 to make and it's a simple, straightforward looking thing.
The plastic they used is strong enough to do it's job but it just looks and feels very fragile, like it is going to revert back to powder.

It's great for small things and gadgets that don't have a lot of mass to them but the moment when you create something thicker costs will shoot through the roof.

That being said. That was one of the most fun experiments in ages

 

[Nick]

In my head, I think anybody who pays for netflix is either an idiot or lazy

Your whole argument about netflix is flawed, because you do not seem to take into account that some people have a moral problem pirating stuff and consider it ethically similar to stealing from the content producers.

It "boggles" my mind how you can write such a long piece of consumer behavior and try to conclude that people are lazy to pay for things completely ignoring the fact that is not a choice between paying or getting it for free, it's a choice between paying or stealing it.

Back on topic, I do not think 3d printers will have a significant effect on the manufacturing process, because the margins in the industry are very small anyway.

I remember making the rounds in the press how a manufacturing company was giving away for free the 3d printing blueprints for their products (small accessories) so that its customers could print the parts they sell in their own homes if they want - for free- because it would have been more expensive and not worth the hassle for the end user to print the designs rather than buying from the manufacturer. I will try to look up the link.

 

[deepestblue]

I just did a little experiment with 3d printing. I made myself an ipad/phone stand and it arrived in the mail today. Super awesome! :groove: I used shapeways to print out the 3d model.

My first impression is that it's just really cool to design something yourself and have it on your desk in two weeks later. I just can't help but think that this thing that's holding my phone right now came out of my head. lol!

I don't think it will eliminate traditional manufacturing though. Not yet.
It's still a bit expensive. The stand I created cost me $35 to make and it's a simple, straightforward looking thing.
The plastic they used is strong enough to do it's job but it just looks and feels very fragile, like it is going to revert back to powder.

It's great for small things and gadgets that don't have a lot of mass to them but the moment when you create something thicker costs will shoot through the roof.

That being said. That was one of the most fun experiments in ages

That is so cool! Where did you order the stand from after printing out the 3d model on shapeways?

 

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