Lately I have been running into more and more discussions about 3D printing with my friends. The ones who have followed the development longer know quite a lot and the conversations are more of what’s happening now and what are the next steps. The ones who first of all understand the difference between 3D movies and 3D printing, and have just discovered technology, are so biased thanks to the mainstream media that it almost annoying to even have the conversation. I thought I’d list the 3 biggest misconceptions based on these conversations.
Misconception #1: 3D printers can print anything
No! No, no, no! We are not living in Star Trek world. It is not possible to print a fully functional iPhone. At least not today, not even tomorrow. Maybe, maybe in several years of time, when the technology evolves. Where we are today, is that we can create any shape of an object with the materials we have available. I am not saying that the technology isn’t incredible and what it can do already today isn’t amazing, such as the bioprinting human tissue etc. Heck, I am the one getting my daily kicks out of it. But, no, not everything can be 3D printed today. This misconception appears mostly amongst those reading the ‘more reliable sources’, such as The Economist, Forbes etc., where speculation is king.
Misconception #2: 3D printing is just for simple plastic toys, not really useful for anything
Oh, wow… I have to admit, I actually enjoy these conversations a little bit. Even though it is true that most of the entry level 3D printers are suitable for small size plastic items, there is so much more to the story. I wrote an article some time ago of all the materials that can be 3D printed with an entry level printers, and it’s not only plastics, by the way.
I like to use the comparison with a 2D paper printers: If you think of it, what can you really do with a paper printer for home use? Print A4 size or smaller. What if you need something more complex? You go to a print shop, right? They operate completely different machinery there. You see where I am getting with this? Usually this conversation ends with; yes, they can print metals and even bio-materials… These people have most of the time seen a short video clip at the end of a mass media news broadcast, where the reporters are equally new to the technology.
Misconception #3: 3D printing will create unemployment and disrupt society
This is by far my favorite misconception. True, IF we would have 3D printers suddenly out of the blue today that were super fast, and had enough skilled people to run them in major scale, we could say that a LOT of people would be out of jobs. However, it is still more beneficial to manufacture most of the items with traditional manufacturing methods. This is not to say, that in the future it isn’t the case. But, luckily the change will be slow and we have time to adapt to it. For example, is our education system ready for a change where factory workers are no longer needed, large corporations may not hire thousands of people in offices etc. Perhaps the answer is to manage the change, see the positive outcomes for the future with a new technology, and not just what we have today. If we never accepted anything new, we would still be living in caves.