3D Printing Future: Open or Closed Sourced?

Although I’ve posted this before, here is a video link between the two proponents of how 3D printing will be in the future. On the right, you have Bre who is focused on an open sourced ecosystem using the MakerBot and on the left, you have Cathy who is offering a “closed” ecosystem approach with 3D Systems.

Parallels from the past: Microsoft

A few decades back, Microsoft founder Bill Gates sent a famous letter to a club he use to take part of explaining that open source is all well and dandy but the problem with this type of ecosystem is that people can’t make a living off of it. The result is that Microsoft came to dominate the desktop and Linux is relegated to the shadows. Things have changed a lot since then, especially with the internet that allows instant communication and downloads of files – with little to no expense. I don’t know if Microsoft would have dominated as it has (and continues to do so) if the internet would have existed back then.

Why Open Sourced is the way to go for 3D printing!

There are many advantages to an open sourced ecosystem, the largest is collaboration. I can grab a model from somebody else, improve upon it and re-release it. The community is open to refinements and product cycles are quicker as a result. Because nobody cares about ownership or who did what, the product selection can be vast in a very short period of time.

Why “Closed” Sourced is the way to go for 3D printing!

The advantages to closed sourced ecosystems (usually there is more than one) is that a designer can receive financial compensation for the time and investment they have put into their model. Sometimes they make a lot from royalties, sometimes they make NOTHING. This is the gamble… but they never lose the rights to their work unless they sell them. The refinements and product cycles can be just as quick (designer’s ambition is the determinate) but the product selection will never be as vast as the open guys UNTIL other designers see some of their kin making money. Open just go for it, closed tend to wait and EXPECT money even when there is a high possibility that none will ever come.

Why I used “closed” instead of closed

Since I began WoodMarvels.com, my views have expanded dramatically regarding design, saying the difference between closed and open sourced are equivalent to black and white is completely wrong. It’s more like one shade of gray leading into another shade of gray without any hard boundaries. Open sourced people will go nuts saying how lively and how much more creative their system is over “closed” but in reality, there is no difference. I talk to designers regularly, both open and closed sourced and what I can say is that open sourced designers are just as ambitious, bright and hard working as their closed sourced cousins with one major difference, THEY DON’T WANT TO MAKE MONEY. Some actually INSIST on it, and because my site, 3DMarvels.com and WoodMarvels.com SELLS models, they don’t want to participate unless I make things more “open” – I believe this is the kind of thinking that’s holding back Linux and a host of other open sourced initiative – the inability to think from multiple points of view. Otherwise, I’d say both communities are pretty similar.

Why “Closed” Sourced Ecosystems will RULE

At the end of the day, I believe open sourced systems have their place, look at WordPress for instance, it’s the most used CMS system in the world and… it’s OPEN SOURCED! Take a look at Magento, a system I use to run my e-commerce websites…. it’s OPEN SOURCED! Linux rules web servers… it’s OPEN SOURCED! But I don’t see myself driving an open sourced car, I don’t live in an open sourced house nor do I eat open sourced cereal. The point being, free only gets you so far, investors won’t put money into a purely open sourced ecosystem as there isn’t any possibility of return. WordPress has been “bought” for 100 million a few years back and Magento by eBay BUT they are “software as service” providers, giving away the bathtub but charging you for water.

3D printing will be a revolution – it’s already happening and has been for a long while now. Like Microsoft VS Linux, you’ll have open and closed but at the end of the day, I’d put my money on “closed”. You can’t buy groceries on good intentions anymore than getting a free car because you are kind.