Commanding Chaos for Coworking, Open Source and Creative Communities

3D Printing Goes Mainstream Retail - Rebecca J. Rosen - The Atlantic

Fri, 11/15/2013 - 08:54 -- rprice

3D printing is not unlike the normal old-fashioned 2D printing process, according to Jones. Say someone wants to print business cards. She'll come in with a rough idea of what she's looking for. One of the staff members will begin asking questions: What color did you have in mind? What kind of paper do you like? How do you feel about this font? Then you'll print out a first-go, and it'll be close but not perfect, and you'll improve it from there. For those who come in with an idea for a 3D object, they'll come in and work with Jones and an engineer he's hired, Tei Newman-Lehman, and, "between the three of us, we get your idea on the paper." (Newman-Lehman, Jones says, used to design airplane parts for the military, but, "with sequestration and stuff, he's now doing this. But he's got a degree in nuclear engineering. I mean, that's a little overkill, but he's happy.") And then from paper to software to printer, the object transitions from idea to a physical fact.