3D Printing, Now, 2023, 2033, 2043... Predictions

[curious aardvark]

People thought in 20th century that we would have flying cars and such in 2000, Did it happen?! :P

Yes it did - there are at least two viable flying cars - what people did not predict was the rise in legislation and haelth and safety that cripples just about every aspect of our current world.

You can own a flying car but in the states you can only legallly fly it if it's tethered to the ground.
Ridiculous, stupid - yes.
How things are - also yes.

Is it possible to precist 20 years into the future ?
no.

Go back 20 years and tell people about cell phones and social media - they'd think you'd come from another planet.
A nasty unpleasant one where people were so insecure they found it impossible to live without telling everyone else where they were and what they were doing.

So 20 years from now, 3d printers will most likely dominate all types of manufacturing, but as has been said they will just be what manufacturing technology is - not a seperate field.

20 years ago I used slr cameras and equipment. I had to carry serious luggage just to take pictures.
These days I have a tiny rectangular camera that takes better pictures and fits in my pocket.
BUT people are gradually going back to carrying all the stupid luggage around with them.
Digital slr's are more popular than ever. I honestly do not know why.

So while some technology is replaced by different technology - other things come round again in a cyclical manner.

No doubt in 10 years all mainstream photography will be 3d, home 3d photographic printers will be commonplace and the camera manufacturers will be struggling to adapt there big old clunky slr's to the new 3d format.

There are cameras and phones that will currently take 3d pics and online services who can print 3d photos for you.
Most things that now start online end up in the home.

And maybe in 10 years time rep-rap will mean reprap. :-)

30 years ago when i was teenager, there was no internet, personal computers were new and only real nerds (like me) had any interest in them. You didn't have cordless phones let a lone cellular phones.

Technology progress accelerates, the advent of easy access 3d printing has turned up that acceleration to ridiculous speeds.
in 30 years time - nobody can say how things will look. Assuming we're all still here :-)

[Bobby Lin]

This is a brilliant idea and I commend you for giving us a detailed view of your predictions for 3d printing a couple of years from now! I hope to see 3d printed stuffs everywhere, a couple of years from now. Like our buildings, magnificent towers and landmarks 3d printed, our clothes and cars 3d printed, basically everything around us is 3d printed!