You’ll Download Physical Objects Sooner Than You Think

[wyldwolf]

File-sharing site The Pirate Bay caused an Internet stir last week when it introduced a new content category called “Physibles,” essentially designed to allow people to pass one another physical objects for download. The term refers to data files that are actually able to become physical objects via 3D printing technology.

Before long, The Pirate Bay said in a blog post, “you will print the spare parts for your vehicles.”

In its blog post announcing “Physibles,” The Pirate Bay claimed that “You will download your sneakers within 20 years.”

But that will actually happen “a lot sooner,” said Hod Lipson, a Cornell University associate professor of both Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Computing & Information Science, who co-authored a report on printing physical objects for the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.

http://mashable.com/2012/01/31/youll-download-physical-objects-sooner-than-you-think-thanks-to-kids-like-these/

[DetlefK]

1. As if downloading a text equals downloading the book... it's just the blueprints!

But the sentence at the end of the article sounds fantastic:
"What do you want to print right now?" - “Another 3D printer.”

[Mnpaul]

9. Plenty of plans can be found at Hacked Gadgets

You can even build on that builds stuff out of Legos
http://www.google.com/custom?domains=hackedgadgets.com&q=3d+printer&sitesearch=hackedgadgets.com&sa=Search&client=pub-5908930301222042&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&safe=active&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23B5A58C%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3ADEDECA%3BLBGC%3AEEEEEE%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BLH%3A66%3BLW%3A428%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fhackedgadgets.com%2Fhg_title.png%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2F%3BFORID%3A1%3B&hl=en

[jakeXT]

2. So if porn is a huge pie of downloaded stuff

I wonder what those 3d objects will be

[HopeHoops]

5. Naughty, naughty, naughty.

[LiberalEsto]

3. I'll have a pizza with mushrooms

hold the anchovies.

[HopeHoops]

6. "Earl Gray, hot."

[eppur_se_muova]

4. see this OP for some links ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12281365

[jerseyjack]

7. Beam me down, Scottie"

[silverweb]

8. Love it!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]It's amazing to watch the imaginary technology of the original Star Trek becoming reality. "Replicators" are just a newer part of it. We already have the "communicators," and the "tricorder" scanner is on the way, too.

Awesome. We certainly have the right President for this era!

[saras]

10. You can't download any raw materials, just plans

You don't download object, you download 3D CAD drawings, and your 3D printer, or your twenty-year-old 3D milling table, makes 3D objects.

To download sneakers requires that your "printer" contain all the materials - I suspect we're talking about some really cheap shoes here, maybe even prison-quality, but in twenty years that may be the norm for Americans. If every "object" you want can be made out of the same cheap plastic, then no problem - it'll save you a trip to Wal-Mart.

Now when my printer can transmute matter - I can dump my waste in the bin and it makes whatever I want out of it, even if it has to rearrange nuclei into different atoms - that's a printer that can reasonably be said to let me download "things".

This process is trivially different than making etched circuit boards - you "download" the pattern of copper that is left on the board, and you make a plastic circuit board with that pattern of copper on it. Big deal.

[Occulus]

12. Now discuss 3D printing as it relates to patent and copyright law.

Suddenly it's a very big deal indeed.

If you're less than impressed, visit www.shapeways.com and check out what can be done on one of the big, expensive industrial-quality 3D printers. We're much, much further along with this tech than you may think.

They can even print in glass, steel, gold, and silver. Not colors, mind you- the actual metals. Yes, this really is a big deal.

edit: as to what you're talking about with waste dumped into a bin, that's advanced, mature nanomanufacturing and it, too, is under development. We'll very likely see exactly what you describe in our or our childrens' lifetimes.

[saras]

16. It's a manufacturing technique. It's not a matter transporter. That's all.

It's the exact same technique that's been used to make integrated circuits (computer chips, etc.) since 1970 or so, on a larger scale, with different materials. You deposit material directly on a substrate. If you can control the bonding between materials you can in theory make anything THAT YOU ALREADY OWN THE RAW MATERIALS FOR.

But you sure as hell cannot 'print ' anything in gold if you don't already own the gold. They can NOT transport the gold over the internet, which is the single crucial step it would take to be considered 'downloading stuff'.

The IP implications are no different than any other reproduction technology, except that so far there's no consumers in this battle. All the players are multinationals. When the Chinese release the first consumer model where you can fill some bins up with recycled plastic and scrap metal to make counterfeit Nikes - now THERE'S an intellectual property battle.

The ultimate result will be to conclude that intellectual property is and was always a stupid concept, that has held back human progress over many hundreds of years, in exchange for small numbers of people getting extremely rich. China porcelain was the subject of IP disputes - the result, centuries of wars and slavery trying to "protect the secrets". Likewise glass and mirrors in Europe. The quality of life for everyone in Europe would have risen faster farther if mirror technology had not been protected. This same pattern continues to this day.

[Odin2005]

11. Earl Grey, hot!

Hiya, WyldWolf!

[applegrove]

13. When I explained the internet to my 103 year old grandmother she asked that I send

her a thanksgiving turkey wing to her by email. She was prophetic.

[Hissyspit]

14. 3D Printers

Watch the videos:

http://www.objet.com

[Historic NY]

15. I want one of those to make plastic pieces...

for my old car interiors.