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A twitter post: “5th grader wants to know if there’s WiFi at the campground.”
It’s not just that he’s asking, its that he even would expect this. We all like to talk about profound shifts, but to truly understand them you need comments like this…or to watch your daughter grab your phone when talking to someone and be confused why she cant’ see them on the video screen… or how I have fingerprints all over my laptop screen.
We’ve all seen this play out in someway with our kids… they will grow up in a world where high speed wireless connectivity is not just asked for or expected.. it will be assumed. Your data will follow you everywhere. Your contacts, payments, shopping history all there. Much like when most of us grew up the “computer” was just penetrating the mainstream homes and you can still remember MS DOS and cell phones the size of bricks…programming the Lotus turtle to draw a circle was a big deal. Now my son is downloading instructions to build Legos on the iPad and watching science experiment videos on YouTube. Their “understanding” of technology won’t be an understanding at all – it will just be.
As the current generation of millenials moves in the workforce and higher purchase power stage of life, this is the type of assumptions we need to make about how technology will impact us and business in the future, and what types of demands we will place on technology – a “smartphone” will be an antique novelty item in 10yrs… just like a StarTac.
3D printing has the potential to improve many niche industries, create new ones, and fundamentally change the supply chain model.
Comparisons to the PC industry are accurate – it begins with early adopters and hobbyist, shifts to high value users with real business applications, and finally transitions to productivity and job/life enhancement of the masses and speeds the process of innovation.
Thus far we’ve already seen 3D printing in spare parts, rapid prototyping, prostheics, implants, toys and hobbies.
Think bigger – fabrication of unibody parts, body tissue and organs, on site manufacturing, distributed IP…
This is why 3D printing is potentially such a big deal.. sure it sounds like a lot of pie in the sky… but then again so did the idea of globalization 100 years ago…or a phone that you carry in your pocket and can call phone nearly anywhere.
This is not just about bobble heads or model building, its about real applications in automotive, electronic, industrial, and other consumers supply chains. The real potential here is less about building something “cool” and unique and more about turning the existing model of design, procure, build and ship model on its head. The link is to the WikiHouse project which is a fantastic idea by itself – but he vision of 3D and the idea of distributed manufacturing and design discussed by Alastain Parvin is as well.
“We’re not there yet, but imagining how the widespread adoption of capable 3D printers could change the world doesn’t just stop with industrial designers or hobbyists. One day you might print out your flatware, your trash cans or even your next computer. If you think this is nuts, just ponder the line from the minicomputer to your smartphone.”
The Change Investor 