How to Evaluate a New Technology

3D Printers, CNC routers, and laser cutters fall into the category of items that are really cool but don’t have a place in my life at the moment. They are things that I would use to make things I don’t need, which makes them also things I don’t need.

You can buy the specialized parts you need to build a 3D printer online and assemble the rest using stuff you can buy at any home center. If I went that route, I’d be building a thing I don’t need that builds things I don’t need. I’ve read that often, when someone builds their first 3D printer, one of the first things they do is use it to make a better 3D printer; so I could conceivably be building a thing I don’t need that will build a thing I don’t need that builds things I don’t need.

I think the takeaway here is that if I ever get into 3D printing, I will start a chain reaction that will one day destroy the world. Instead of pollution or nanobot gray goo, we would be buried under an avalanche of old 3D printers and plastic doodads that look like they’re made from bright orange shredded wheat.

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