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Fabulous fabrications Author: Anon. The Economist (UK), 23 March 2005. The "Fab Lab" developed out of Neil Gershenfeld's popular MIT course How To Make (Almost) Anything. It's a set of off-the-shelf tools that enable inventors in economically developing areas to solve local problems at minimum cost. The concept points the way towards personal manufacturing.
3-D Printers: Mini RP Systems or Expensive Gadgets? Author: Todd Grimm. Time Compression Technologies, May, 2004. Why would you pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for an RP system? - or why you might not need to.
The Biology of Direct Writing and Rapid Prototyping. Author: Adrian Bowyer, University of Bath (UK). Web article. Adrian Bowyer discusses a way of applying RP technology that he considers might be a more economic than industrial revolution. The provocative discussion centers around machines that can self-replicate and lead to exponential changes. "Rapid prototyping is often said to be the start of a new industrial revolution; see, for example, sources as diverse as the recent New Scientist article listed here and the car production scene in Spielberg's 'Minority Report'. Such talk of revolution may well be hype, of course." Or maybe not...
Gadget printer promises industrial revolution. Author: Duncan Graham-Rowe. New Scientist, Jan. 8, 2003. Discusses largely inkjet-based additiive technologies to make complete electronic systems, transducers and mechancal devices. Work at the University of California, Berkeley is highlighted. A little on the whizz-bang-breathless speculation side.
RP Applications: The Possibilities Are Endless: New advances and trends yield surprises. Authors: Terry Wohlers and Todd Grimm. Time Compression Technologies, Jan. 2002. A compendium of numerous interesting applications of RP. Some of these are still very small niches, but the possibility exists that one or more of these could burgeon forth into a major application area. Dental and medical applications are discussed, as well as the production of finished parts.
3-D Printers for the Home: Are They in Our Future? Authors: Terry Wohlers and Todd Grimm. Time Compression Technologies, June, 2001. There is much enthusiasm on the part of some individuals, but a system that satisfies practical needs is far enough off to make it inadvisable to hold one's breath.
A Re-industrial Revolution. Author: Marshall Burns. Computer Graphics World, May, 2001. A discussion of the possibility of moving from mass production to mass customization. The article suggests that starting from the customer’s point of view may be the best way to make the market bloom.
Lessons From Guttenberg's Legacy. Authors: Todd Grimm and Terry Wohlers. Time Compression Technologies, March, 2001. The authors argue that the future of RP looks a lot like the present of printing: many competing and complementary technologies with each adapted to best perform in specific applications.
Change Will Reshape The RP Process and Its Equipment. Author: John Connolly. Time Compression Technologies, March, 2001. Industry experts predict the future of RP technology. One of the key issues is that materials are driving the evolution.
Just Slightly Ahead of Our Time. This is the archive of a February, 2001 discussion on SlashDot.org about the role of digital fabricators as means of distributed personal manufacturing. The original posting was by Ennex Corporation regarding an up-coming speaking engagement. Lots of viewpoints and fairly provocative.
Future of RP articles at Ennex.com. Marshall Burns has written extensively over the last ten years about where the field is going technically and its long term potential for societal impact. Many of these articles are available on the Ennex web site.
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