I was watching a video on the current issue of GW once again pissing off
a vast number of very vocal players and one of the commenters said, "I'm
not going to buy their overpriced stuff anymore, I'll just 3D print
it".  That got me to thinking about how disruptive additive
manufacturing could be to trade in the 3I.  With a basic amount of
technology, you can run printers that will make pretty much anything
that can be designed from polymers, metals, and other compounds, and
that's just today.  In the past three years I've watched home printers
(SLA/resin) go from 1k resolution to 12k, and there's no evidence that
the rush is anywhere close to slowing down.  Even sound suppressors are
being 3d printed so it's clear that (again, even today) the technology
is capable of producing products capable of precision, strength, and
durability.  Some printers can even mix production materials.

The biggest drawback I could see would be licensing the actual designs,
though I'm sure a licensing fee could be negotiated or the end user just
pirated the design.

Thoughts?

--
Kurt Feltenberger
xxxxxx@thepaw.org/xxxxxx@yahoo.com
“Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me

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