4 - I...somewhat disagree. I spent a few weeks looking into current and future 3d printing tech, and outside of some very limited use-cases would I consider that the output quality and materials mix from any 3d printing tech to be a threat to traditional manufacturing.
It's a nice idea, but it's just very very far away from happening.
Even relatively simple items right now are not something that are even close to being duplicable in any current or emerging 3d printing tech.
For example, there is nothing on the horizon that will enable me to 3d print the equivalent of a working $5 104-key keyboard.
Now if I want to buy all the electronics and internals and spend a few hours printing and assembling a custom keyboard (because my time is free right?) then yeah, I might be able to 3d print something of use.
I'm actually looking around my office now and every thing I see fits into 1 of two categories
a) Not feasible to 3d print the item e.g. a keyboard
b) Cheaper to buy it and get it some other way e.g. the red Solo cup I'm drinking some water out of
That's a great point, and illustrates that blinder effect discussed in the article. The Blackberry executives and engineers also did not think that the iphone would sell well at a higher price point and a lower battery life.
My point in bring up all of this is that the key insight in this article is not about disruption, but about refactoring your base assumptions. When you see 3D printers as to what is really is, but has not yet been, then you start to see other technologies that are coming together to be able to fabricate things in your garage. Yes, that does include being able to print circuitry directly into the printer -- and yes, there are people working on that right now.
This is a lot closer to happening than you think it is :-)
It's a nice idea, but it's just very very far away from happening.
Even relatively simple items right now are not something that are even close to being duplicable in any current or emerging 3d printing tech.
For example, there is nothing on the horizon that will enable me to 3d print the equivalent of a working $5 104-key keyboard.
Now if I want to buy all the electronics and internals and spend a few hours printing and assembling a custom keyboard (because my time is free right?) then yeah, I might be able to 3d print something of use.
I'm actually looking around my office now and every thing I see fits into 1 of two categories
a) Not feasible to 3d print the item e.g. a keyboard
b) Cheaper to buy it and get it some other way e.g. the red Solo cup I'm drinking some water out of