Wouldn’t be too sure on that Pete. Once home 3D printing becomes mainstream then the whole manufacture and distribution business model will be in question, especially for niche hobbies like ours. It is obviously faster to produce, say, a thousand kits in a factory to supply to retail outlets. But is it perhaps faster (and far more efficient and cost effective to the manufacturer) for a thousand individuals to produce one kit each, at home, with no distribution or packing costs?I can see 3D printing replacing resin, but it won't replace mainstream kits since injection moulding is much much faster for volume production.
Pete
Very true, everything digital can be relatively easily pirated. However, music and written word sources (for example) have survived the change over, and I’m sure 3D object suppliers will work around it somehow. Some sort of streaming service business model perhaps?With 3d printing - buying printing code or even 3d model, there is a big problem with copyrights on 3d model/printing code. Any code is for now breakable. Even if 3d printing will be direct online, in real time, from producers cloud, that you cannot stole codes, data, etc, there will be big problem with internet connection issues. Even if you interrupt printing, and later go on on interrupted layer, almost always on this layer you can see error, misalignments etc. Will be tehnology in some time so good, for instant customers - maybe. Instant customers - new generations of people that all problems resolve with one push button, unskilled to replace even light bulb in home.
In opposite of this, making your own mould as copyright breaker is not option.
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