The Post Social Age

Do you need a 3D printer in your home? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get one. A few weeks ago John Evans had a very thoughtful post over on TechCrunch: There Is No Reason For Any Individual To Have a 3D Printer In Their Home.

photo by Nick Ames

I totally agree with John that someday Amazon or someone will allow you to use a 3D printer whenever you want and have your reproduction delivered the same day. This will be huge, but that’s still years away and you’re still removed from a lot of the learning. 

Three years ago I met Bre Pettis at a Gnomedex event in Seattle. I even shot this little video of the MakerBot in action.

Most likely I will be getting a MakerBot Replicator 2 sometime next year. Why?

1. Because they’re freaking awesome!
2. Because this is the future. 
3. See reason #1 

About two years ago I bought each of my kids and myself the new 7inch Galaxy Tab. The reason was because we were moving to Europe and I wanted one device that they could have their music, books and games on while we travel. I also got them these devices for the same reason my parents bought me my first PC that I had to boot all my programs from DOS. I was just starting college when they did this but the point was that learning new tech is extremely important. I want my kids to be not just comfortable with the new tech but proficient. 

3D printing will be as disruptive to our economy as computing was and not only do I want to make sure I understand it, I want to make sure my kids are fully versed on it as well. Yes, these devices will get better and much easier to use but understanding technologies history is important. I still know most of my hotkeys from my DOS days. I’m not afraid to open up the terminal and type commands in. I want my kids to be just as comfortable with the tech of the future as I am with current tech. 

So we’ll buy a 3D printer and we’ll make funny little toys and and little gadgets and we’ll experiment and have some fun along the way. But eventually it will be more than that. It will be important. And having immediate access and the ability to and the understanding to work these tools will make a difference.