3-D printers
3-D printers will be cheap enough in a few years for ordinary home use. Of course the printer will be yet another technology item to fit into an already crowded house, and the frustration level with the usual printer jams and misprints (imagine the mess and the waste of materials) will be sky-high. And for the near future the materials will probably be limited to things like various polymers, cornstarch derivatives, wax, and chocolate. But it would still be so much fun to own – kind of like a grown-up version of the Easy-Bake Oven.
These printers will cause an odd transfer of control, with the consumer now becoming the manufacturer, and new intermediaries springing up to provide the design programs. The ability for anyone to rapidly prototype inventions or variations on existing products should lead to massive creativity.
And when the printers are sophisticated enough to allow embedded electronics, the practical uses are unlimited – imagine making your own light bulbs, flashlights, cell phones, and for me, a remote to replace the one my dog ate. My guess as to the most popular items to print will be not be the practical or the innovative ones, however, but the true basics – chocolate body parts for adults, and small plastic toys for kids.