Are consumers ready for the 3D revolution?

Watching the news it seems like the buzz-word for 2012 is 3D… 3D TVs, 3D movies, 3D audio… basically, I wished I would have had the foresight to purchase every 3D domain out there way back when.

What does the general public know about 3D printing?

NOTHING! I talked to my nephew whose about to attend high school next year and he knows NOTHING about 3D printers. What he is learning in school is how things WERE, not how they will be when he will graduate. I told him to learn 3D ASAP now while he is young and he’ll be set for life… it goes onto deaf ears. The general public is very much the same, they hear the thunder over the horizon but don’t have the foresight to seek shelter until they are soaked.

Growth through stability

The reason for this is easy, people want to keep the status quo! They want to know that tomorrow will be the same as today… they will FIGHT to keep it that way (just look at American politics). They put their blinders on, ignoring and explaining away until they are blue in the face that the rain drops falling on their head are humidity in the air and don’t come from that huge black swirling cloud above them. Our whole society seems to be like this, and set-up like this. From massive corporations like GM to the financial sector to religious institutions… they ignore problems until they get hit by lightning and then wonder “what happened?” “this came out of nowhere!” “help us!”

I’ve lived my life trying to master chaos, I am excited by NOT knowing, NOT understanding and I’ve never understood why people spend so much time and resources fighting against the inevitable. I knew NOTHING about lasers yet designed for them during the course of 3 years the most successful site selling laser cutting files. I’m not the smartest, had zero experience (design much less laser cutter wise) and because I didn’t know anything about the industry, I had no boundaries or pre-conceived ideas as to what was or wasn’t possible. I’d ask “can I do this” and the answer was usually NO… so I figured a way around it. I’m on the verge of doing the same in the 3D printed world, I know much more about that than I ever did lasers… or CNC table routers but now, it’s an advantage. I’ve struggled finding solutions around technological limitation for years, now I’m given an open slate where ANYTHING is possible.

3D printers ARE here, they WILL revolutionize our lives and YES, if you don’t adapt, you will NOT have a job nor will you have a future that’s productive.

Prepare for the storm NOW!

I think ALL children, starting in elementary school MUST start learning 3D – my kids will as should yours. For the older generation (mine) – it’s time to get off your ass and learn 3D… there are plenty of free programs out there! Colleges/universities/highschools should all force students to learn how to build 3D models, it’s just as important as learning geography or history! For the baby boomers… you are lucky… the storm has passed you BUT as we saw with the financial crisis – your savings aren’t secure and it’s time to learn 3D! 3D is a language, if you don’t “speak it” you will be left behind, of course, if 3D isn’t your passion, learn how to model with your hands and scan it into your computer or programming to create algorithms that create 3D objects. Basically, society has to change NOW in fundamental ways otherwise it will be thrown into a loop that makes the financial crisis look like a bump on the road.

Retail? What’s that?

Here is the situation, if everybody can make their own objects, buy them online and print them at home… why do they need to go to the store to buy mugs, car filters, wheels, tiles, appliances (20-30 years down the road). Basically, when people have the ability to make their own stuff, they aren’t going to buy them at the store. Companies that ship these products aren’t needed anymore. Even clothing isn’t safe… but unlike tailors of the past, 3D printing requires NO skill, just a machine and a digital file. You don’t have to build a box, you just press a button and in a few hours, you have it! You don’t need to learn metallurgy, you can just print your own hammer. Basically, all the skills required TODAY to make things aren’t required once you have the file, all you need is one finger (or your voice) to PRINT what you need. Retail industry along with a host of others firmly planted in the old economy… well, they will die. Lots of people rely on these jobs… where will they go? If they don’t learn a skill associated with 3D… they will become second class citizens of the world. By the time my nephew graduates university in a few years, the world will be a very different place, the knowledge he will of acquired will not help him, it will be a crutch that he has to learn to throw away. Luckily, he’s got me to show him the way when he is ready.