3D Printing Hype

[Charles Kozierok]

Am I the only one getting tired of it? I understand that the future can surprise, but some of the predictions associated with 3D printing are such patently obvious nonsense that they get on my nerves.

Exhibit A: Open source cola and the 'Napster moment' for the food business, wherein the author paints this scenario:

Imagine yourself in twenty years sitting down in your kitchen and wanting a glass of cola and a hamburger. You could download Coca-Cola's classic recipe to go with a McDonald's Big Mac, but you could also download that extra-caffeinated cola someone's hacked onto the server along with a Big Mac with a particularly smoky ketchup in place of the banal, "official" version. Or you could knock something new up yourself, a drink that's sugar- and caffeine-free and with an extra shot of vitamin B and a burger bun that's gluten-free.

Yeah, imagine it -- because you'll still be imagining it in 20 years. For starters, how can you "3D print" a liquid? The very idea is absurd. "3D printing a liquid" is a process we've had for thousands of years -- we call it "mixing".

If people can't duplicate the Coke recipe now, how is a 3D printer going to change anything? What does the 3D printing have to do with recipes at all?

Same with solid foods to a certain extent -- the issue isn't fabrication, it's ingredients and methods. What "ink" does this writer think is going to be put into a 3D printer to make a Big Mac? Are we going to have plastic tanks filled with liquified lettuce? Machine-compatible special sauce packets? The idea is ludicrous. What exactly is the 3D printer gaining me that following a recipe with real ingredients cannot? If I want a gluten-free bun, why can't I just bake or buy a gluten-free bun? What is the 3D printer bringing to the table?

Finally, even if you could exactly duplicate the chemical ingredients in a Big Mac, it's not going to taste like a Big Mac coming out of your "3D food printer", any more than it tastes like a Big Mac after it's been sitting in your fridge for three days and then reheated in the microwave.

Seriously, these people sound like the ones who claim we'll have transporters in a few years. They give technologists a bad name.

 

[DrPizza]

I'm not sure what there is to discuss on that article. Reading what you have quoted is sufficient to come to the conclusion that the writer's level of education is journalism - at best. The writer certainly isn't acquainted with even a basic level college chemistry course, if the writer thinks that they myriad of chemicals in food are going to be created in a little machine.

 

[Moonbeam]

http://inhabitat.com/mits-digital-food-printer-creates-nutritious-meals/

 

[zzuupp]

The author mentions the project has expensive ingredients. This doesn't stop the speculation on the kitchen of the future.
I find the article ridiculous, as well.

 

[nickbits]

I had an idea for a "3d printer" that instead of ink was filled with a supply of every element. It would "print" by creating molecules and positioning them correctly.

 

[Kadarin]

An interesting aspect of this hype is the possibility of 3d printing a "reliable enough" firearm. Slashdot discussion on the subject: http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/04/26/0026259/3d-printed-gun-may-be-unveiled-soon

 

[SMOGZINN]

Seriously, these people sound like the ones who claim we'll have transporters in a few years. They give technologists a bad name.

I agree that this journalist is reaching way past what we will be able to do in the near future. But he is not fully wrong either. People are already experimenting with 3d printing of foods with a lot of success. It might not work for all foods, but we are going to see it used as an advancement. Cheetos are already basically printed by a machine that works very similar to a 3D printer. While you might not 3D print a bun, we are already able to print a hamburger patty and cook it during the process.

History has proved again and again that you almost can't oversell the advancement of technology. Sure we don't have flying cars, but we have computers that can fit in your pocket. I don't have a robotic butler, but I can buy practically any product produced anywhere in the world while sitting on the beach, and have it delivered to my hotel room by the next day. 3D printing is going to change our world in a major way. Technologists are just trying to prepare the world for the outrageous things it is going to make possible.

 

[woolfe9998]

It's like the food replicators in Star Trek. Wouldn't that require some kind of nano-technology for fabrication at a molecular level? Seems just a tad bit outside even the extrapolated future capabilities of 3D printing...

 

[woolfe9998]

History has proved again and again that you almost can't oversell the advancement of technology.

No, it's over-sold all the time. Every day. Anyone who reads magazines and online articles that discuss new emerging technologies and remembers what they read knows what I'm talking about. The vast majority of "gee whiz" emerging tech never comes to fruition, and certainly not in the time frames being suggested.

If even 10% of what you read in a news feed like this actually comes to be, I'd be surprised:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/

 

[DrPizza]

I had an idea for a "3d printer" that instead of ink was filled with a supply of every element. It would "print" by creating molecules and positioning them correctly.

Sounds pretty sweet until someone prints a nuclear bomb.
(Though, a process of printing that way simply wouldn't (to the best of my knowledge) work.)

 

[Murloc]

the self-cooking machine is retro naive thinking. Techology changes our lives in different directions than the ones we imagine.

In the 50s people had a car and a wife that cooked meals.
So what did they fantasize about?
A flying car for him and a kitchen robot that cooks stuff for her.

Instead we're using small computers to communicate through chat and social networks, and that's something nobody in the 50s would have ever thought about.
Touch screens? They do seem an easy concept, but star wars and star trek are all about blinking buttons and levers and the computers still print reports instead of displaying them even if it's the far future.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

People are already experimenting with 3d printing of foods with a lot of success. It might not work for all foods, but we are going to see it used as an advancement. Cheetos are already basically printed by a machine that works very similar to a 3D printer.

They are? I can't find any info on that, would love to see it.

If there really are practical applications for the technology, great.

 

[Moonbeam]

They are? I can't find any info on that, would love to see it.

If there really are practical applications for the technology, great.

Did you look at my link?

Here's another:

http://fluid.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/44.5.zoran (1).pdf

 

[smackababy]

They are? I can't find any info on that, would love to see it.

If there really are practical applications for the technology, great.

Cheetos are basically corn mill, which would be easy to 3d print. The reality though is you will never be able to 3d print a chicken sandwich or any kind of drink unless you already have all material available already. Even with the basic elements, combing them into anything useful would be extremely hard.

The real benefit of 3d printing comes in manufacturing. Fasteners, building materials, things of that nature could easily be reproduced out of a compound that offers the strength and usability required.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The real benefit of 3d printing comes in manufacturing. Fasteners, building materials, things of that nature could easily be reproduced out of a compound that offers the strength and usability required.

Exactly. Repair parts for cars, air conditioners and vacuum cleaners. Instead of a repair shop having to special-order a part for a 5-year-old device, they'll be able to bake one on the spot.

That's an area where 3D printing makes sense -- removing the need to stock 10,000 obscure parts that might not be needed for a year or two.

"3D printing" a burger isn't going to be possible any time soon, and probably won't make economic sense then. Maybe next century a "food printer" will form and flavor synthetic protein bits to use the same pink slime for both burgers and chicken salad.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The IP lawyers are going to kill this like the MPAA did Napster.

And yes, the author does not have a clue. In a hundred or two years nanotechnology might be able to do many things, but whether it would be cost competitive to larger scale production of future years is questionable.

 

[wirednuts]

theoretically... it might be physically possible to build robots that can build on the atomic level.. creating molecules as they go and 3d-printing them in place as needed. you wouldn't be able to see these robots, you simply would see the product slowly be created from the ground up.

I don't think it will be a limitless thing.. im sure there will be plenty of things we cant 3d-print.. but you might be surprised the things we will be able to.

I got this info from a nova type show, I cant remember which one

 

[wirednuts]

"3D printing" a burger isn't going to be possible any time soon, and probably won't make economic sense then. Maybe next century a "food printer" will form and flavor synthetic protein bits to use the same pink slime for both burgers and chicken salad.

and 95% of the population will develop chrons disease

 

[lotus503]

I am actually invested in 3d printing. I think it's going to have huge production ramifications over the next 10-20 years.

Not food, liquid or any of that other nonsense, think car parts, on demand parts for many many things.

It's going to revolutionize logistics, supply chain management etc.

Currently if you want a prototype part or multiple parts, it can be seriously expensive, with 3D printing it can lower the cost substantially.

Lots of great applications but consumables are not one of them.

 

[Moonbeam]

and 95% of the population will develop chrons disease

Not necessarily especially if the protein bits are extracted from parasitic worms.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Cheetos are basically corn mill, which would be easy to 3d print.

Easy, but to what end, when extrusion is tried and true, faster and cheaper?

The real benefit of 3d printing comes in manufacturing. Fasteners, building materials, things of that nature could easily be reproduced out of a compound that offers the strength and usability required.

Sure, there are some benefits here, but even here the value of 3D printing is grossly exaggerated IMO. I see niche applications; that's about it.

Did you look at my link?

Here's another:

http://fluid.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/44.5.zoran (1).pdf

That's not printing anything -- it's just doing portion control, and someone decided it would sound niftier if they called it a "printer".

 

[Doppel]

I do think a lot of the hype is valid over 3D printing and it really is going to be a massive game changer in the coming decades and increasingly relevant.

Printing food is obviously utter rubbish any time soon.

Well before we all have 3D printers in our homes there will be a growing number of businesses that create custom objects, with increasing complexity as they can combine multiple materials.

 

[Doppel]

I am actually invested in 3d printing. I think it's going to have huge production ramifications over the next 10-20 years.

Not food, liquid or any of that other nonsense, think car parts, on demand parts for many many things.

It's going to revolutionize logistics, supply chain management etc.

Currently if you want a prototype part or multiple parts, it can be seriously expensive, with 3D printing it can lower the cost substantially.

Lots of great applications but consumables are not one of them.

How are you invested in it exactly? I feel very strongly about few technologies and 3D printing is one I really like. I also like driver-less cars.

 

[colonelciller]

3D printed items are brittle pieces of junk... literally.
good for visualizing and prototyping, bbutnot good as commercial goods... or have I missed some quantum leaps in 3D printing tech.

as to 3D printing cheetos... um... 1st you have to make the "food" content. that is not going to be stored in a drum, and cheetoes are not plastic, wax, whattnot. Any food item to beprinted must be first "mixed in a liquid slurry form" before the nasty nasty synthetic final product would be printed.

i'll take a carrot instead.

3D printing with metals?... how is that possible (if at all).

 

[Charles Kozierok]

3D printing with metals?... how is that possible (if at all).

That actually is not a big deal -- powdered metal and a binder of some sort.

Of course, it's not the same as forged or cast metal, but it does have some uses.