User:Djg5125
Blog Entry #3 - 9/21/12
1. I think that if 3D printing were to ever go the route of protecting individual designs with the use of DRM, it would never last. Adrian Bowyer made a very good point in that intellectual property is only stable when the copying is difficult and the legal ramifications are steep. Since these machines are so easy to make through reproduction, there is going to come a time when everyone is going to want one and all they'll have to do is go to one of their friends who already have one and print out the parts themselves. I think even if these designs were protected in some manner, eventually the code would be cracked so to speak and stealing designs would be no more difficult than stealing an MP3. Much like with MP3s, as more and more people contribute to the cause, eventually stopping people from stealing would be impossible, unless you plan on finding the millions of people who do it and try to charge them which I feel is unreasonable.
In today's age of everything being digital, there are so many artists out there who really could care less about the piracy of music. There are many artists out there who release EPs and mix tapes on the internet free of charge, mainly because they want to get their work out there. The people who are most upset with piracy are the ones making a majority of the money, the record labels. Which brings me to the point I found most profound in the article, which was that most people don't create these things to make money. Their real motivation is to get noticed by people and have their work appreciated by the masses. I feel this applies very much to 3D printing especially when you have sites like Thingiverse where you can share your designs openly and essentially "get noticed" as the article states. Clearly most of the people involved in the RepRap community care more about advancing the technology than making money off of it, and therefore I don't think putting any kind of DRM on it would ever work. Eventually these people would find a way past the DRM just like what people did with mp3s.
2. One of my great passions in life is roller coasters, which has lead me to seek a career in the design of what I consider one of the greatest inventions of all time. Having had the opportunity of working for a company that designs and manufactures these machines, I love sharing my knowledge with people who have similar interests. However, I don't see this as a way to attract future mates mainly because some people might find this nerdy (much like with a lot of engineering topics) and uninteresting. I do believe this passion will eventually lead me to making money off of it, primarily because it will hopefully lead to a career in the roller coaster design industry. And while I do have quite a few ideas on ways in which to improve the design of today's roller coaster designs, I probably wouldn't be open to sharing them with others within the industry primarily due to its size. With industries as small and specialized as the manufacture of roller coasters, one good idea means the success of one company over the rest. There really aren't that many roller coasters built each year when you compare their sale to something like a car or cell phone, so every idea counts. Companies in this industry need to advance in order to sell products and stay alive, so every idea counts.
3. I personally don't think 3D printing will "kill" intellectual property as Bowyer believes as I don't think intellectual property will ever completely go away. While Bowyer's argument that most people care more about getting noticed then making money is very strong, there is always going to be someone out there who has a great idea and would rather make a huge profit on it then share it with the world for free. However, the demise of IP could be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing if it were ever to happen. On one hand, everyone's ideas would be free reign and people could combine the best ideas to make objects superior than those in existence today. As consumers we wouldn't have to worry about companies skimping out on features just so they can include them in the next iteration of a product as a selling point to convince people to buy it. This is what makes RepRap designs so popular as anyone can take the existing designs and improve them to create better designs. This also spurs creativity, which is one of the main driving forces behind RepRap's success. On the other hand, it eliminates any monetary gain anyone can have when it comes to a great idea. I think there are some ideas out there that deserve to make someone wealthy, but without the help of IP those opportunities just wouldn't exist.
Blog Entry #2 - 9/13/12
1. I personally do not feel that a self-replication universal constructor is completely feasible, mainly because there are certain components that aren't able to be replicated with this technology. For instance, with the RepRap's themselves, you obviously can't replicate the electronics needed to make the machine run. While much of the body and mechanism could indeed be replicated with one of these machines and substitutes could be found for certain components that can't be replicated, without the electronics, you can't make it run. So I think that while the goal isn't completely out of the picture, I do not feel that it is completely feasible due to these constraints.
2. The phrase simply means that people have the ability of obtaining the things they want without necessarily having to go out and buy them. With one of these machines, people have the ability of manufacturing so many different things that they would no longer need to buy themselves. This in turn helps keep money in their pocket and essentially makes them wealthier in the process. One problem with this statement is while you certainly have the means of making all these things with these machines, there is always going to be a need for raw materials. If everyone has one of these machines, there will be a high demand for these materials which will result in an increase in the price of those materials. Because of this, there may come a point where the cost of manufacturing something yourself is higher than if you were to go out and buy it, thus negating the benefits of the reprap project.
3. As the popularity of these machines continues to increase and are put into more and more people's hands, I feel the possibilities of evolution are endless. There's always going to be someone out there that can do something better or knows of a way to approach something different. That is what makes open-source such a great thing with this project because the amount of feedback that you can get is immense, and only contributes to the increased quality of things and reprap machines. I envision that in the future many different types of materials will be able to be used with these machines. I do not think that creating a reprap that is capable of producing things made out of aluminum, copper, and other soft metals is completely out of the question either. With a development like this, the number of objects that can be replicated would increase dramatically and increase the overall quality as well. I also think as more people contribute to the cause, the cost and ease of making a machine yourself will drop substantially. This in turn will result in an exponential growth of the type of things that are available to be downloaded and manufactured due to the larger community. Overall, I feel the quality of anything and everything reprap will increase as more and more people contribute to the cause.
Blog Entry #1 - 9/3/12
After browsing Thingiverse for awhile, these are the items that I felt met each of the categories:
1. Useful: Bag Holder
While this design may seem silly, I feel like it would be useful in my everyday life. For someone who knows the pain of having to carry four, five, maybe more grocery bags at once while unloading your groceries, this would definitely come in handy for me. I'm a college student, I'm lazy, and I definitely hate taking more than one trip when unloading my groceries from my car, so something like this would make that task very easy and less-painful when trying to carry multiple grocery bags in one hand.
2. Artistic: Flame Light Shade
While browsing through the popular things, I stumbled upon this particular design. It caught my eye and I think its really neat looking. I feel like someone very art oriented would be the person to print something like this out and have it sitting in their house.
3. Pointless: Wolverine Claws
Aside from using these as a prop during Halloween, I honestly can't think of any other reason why you would want a set of Wolverine claws. I understand there are certainly people out there who would love a pair (specifically comic book fans), but I just don't see why I would want to print out my own set to be honest.
4. Funny: Sleeping Pig
I found this design funny simply because the person took the time to make a miniature sized version of a statue they had sitting in their garden. The sleeping pig sitting in someone's yard is funny enough, so if I saw a small sleeping pig sitting on someone's desk, chances are I'd probably chuckle a little. However, I must say the creator did a pretty good job at recreating the object.
5. Weird: Robohamster
This particular design was featured on the main page last week, and my first impression of it was that it was pretty weird look. While I thought this particular design could certainly fit in several other categories, I think weird describes it best. I'm not really sure why someone would want a robot hamster, but whatever floats your boat.
