3D Printing

We live in a world of ever changing technology. Technology is becoming so integrated into our current lifestyle that it can leave some feeling naked without something so much as their phone with them. With this evolution in technology comes progress, but sometimes at a cost. In recent years three dimensional printing has begun to rise up. With this advance in technology people are becoming able to create everyday object out of nothing using a 3D printer. Some see this new advancement as a God-send, allowing them to open their imagination and create whatever they think in the blink of an eye.

3D printing works by created an object layer by layer using a digital blueprint or model. This new process has become very popular for many for various reasons such as reduced cos and the speed at which they can product an item. While initial costs for these machines are high for some, over time the costs will begin to even as the requirement for manufacturers will become lower. Over the time 3D printing has emerged the cost of these machines has begun to climb lower and lower. Anyone can even buy a miniature one online for as low as $100 just for personal use. These machines could possibly become another part of everyday life such as our phones and our computers.

With every good must come bad however. With all new technology, there are people who will begin to tinker with it. Although most will tinker in a positive way, there will always be some that won’t. Recently, in 2013, just last year, a gun was made using one of these 3D printers. This gun was fully operational and was fired successfully. While this is an extremely interesting advance that these machines are capable of creating such an item, it clearly sets off alarms. The possibility of someone becoming able to create weapons such as guns and knives raises the stability of this product being open to the public. 3D printers typically use a type of plastic to create there objects so as a result, the gun created not only fired but was made of this plastic. This could cause a serious panic against safety as these new plastic guns could possibly get through current security systems undetected. This also proves that anyone could possibly create these weapons for their own use.

            3D printer is clearly part of our future. This technology has opened the door to many new creation and ideas of how this could be put into modern day life. Quite possibly in the near future we could all be using one of these machines if we haven’t already. The possibilities behind the machine are limitless which can be both a good thing, and a bad. As I said before, there are always those people who will tinker with the technology. Negatives about this machine are as limitless as the positives. Weapons have been made with this printer and with this possibility come a threat. As with most technology we currently have, we are in the beginning stages of our integration with technology. There are as many negatives that can be done with technology as there are benefits. 3D printing will continue to grow within businesses and personal use. 3D printing is something we’ll be seeing much more of in the future and I’m interested to see where this technology can bring us.