Alright so I saw this video post today by Nerdgasm. He basically prints out 3D printed compatible Lego blocks using an Ultimaker 3D printer. This isn't a difficult thing to print, in fact, it's probably one of the more simple things. It took him a little over 5 hours to print 20 Lego like blocks. Here's the video:



Big deal right? Well, not so fast..... If you have a 3D printer, why bother spending money on Lego's. Sure, right now the cost of the filament, the electricity to run the printer, and the time it takes to set things up may not be worth the cost of a box of Lego blocks, but within a couple years costs will come down. At this point Lego, the company, really has no say in the matter. Sure, they could try to enforce patents, but that doesn't really stop people from either scanning in their blocks at home, and printing them out, or sharing the files with one another. This will change their business model and thousands of other company's business models as well. We are moving towards an information only economy in the long run. Here is an image. The blue block furthest back is a real Lego, and the other three are blocks printed on various different 3D printers.