I love disruptive tech, you know, the kind able to shake things up in ways impossible to predict, especially to the established powers at be in any given industry. Seems 3D printing, a technology BRT has talked about often, will do the same for copyright, the bane of all things digital when raised to the absurd limits it now resides at in the US courtesy of the late unlamented Sonny Bono, who died while allegedly playing football on skis.
It appears copyright does not readily apply to "useful" things like objects able to be copied via 3D printing, the tech that will change everything relative to manufacturing as we move toward a contracting economy where all things local applies.
A recent research paper published by the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif., titled “The Future of Open Fabrication,” says 3-D printing will be “manufacturing’s Big Bang.” as jobs in manufacturing, many overseas, and jobs shipping products around the globe are replaced by companies setting up 3-D fabrication labs in stores to print objects rather than ship them.
The disregard for copyright smoothes the way for this shift. Downloading music online prospered because it was quicker and easier to press a button than go to a store to buy a CD. Given the choice to download a mug, or deal with Ikea on a Saturday afternoon, which one do you think you would choose?
Works for me.
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