Information Age: The Rise of 3D Printers

Casey Research’s Chris Wood writes of the prospects of 3D which is “already a $1 billion+ business”,

3D printing is simply too useful across a wide spectrum of applications to be compared to VR. It is here to stay. Going forward, the technology will displace conventional manufacturing techniques in some instances and complement them in others. Consumers will increasingly adopt it. The technology will continually be refined, while the range of usable materials will broaden. These advancements should allow us to start printing electronics in a few years… and perhaps even body parts someday down the road.

This is an industry barely into its infancy. It's a situation not unlike that with the personal computer thirty years ago, when only Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and a few other visionaries foresaw that the PC could become an essential household appliance.

I earlier posted a video of 3D Printing here

As part of the “smart manufacturing” or one of the 3 forces that will underpin the information age, I’d conjecture that 3D printing will herald the evolving trend of mass customization or the emergence of Prosumers where 3D printing will likely bring some, if not many, aspects of (personalized or custom based) manufacturing to the households. In short, some things will be produced at home, when or as needed. [possibly even body parts as pointed out, e.g. printing of kidney]

Again forces of decentralization driving structural changes in the way we live at work.