Re: [rp-ml] Desktop Factory

Hmmm... I'm not sure how people are going to share/monetize the input files.
I'd like something like debian or wikipedia. We'll see.

One thing that I don't like about the $5K machine is it doesn't seem possible
to recycle the input material, as you can with FDM thermoplastic parts /
feedstock. Unless I am overestimating the difficulty of grinding
that "metal/plastic composite" back into powder. Hopefully they're not going
to soak the users on feedstock, replacement parts, or replacement bulbs, or
play games with service contracts i.e. not letting people fix their printers
by swapping in RP-made parts.

I'm probably too close to the middle of things to have any real perspective,
but I wonder what the home users and the people running local job shops will
want.

-Sebastien Bailard
RepRap.org

On Wednesday 30 August 2006 19:50, Steve wrote:
> Brock Hinzmann wrote:
> > If Pareto holds true, you'll see 20 percent active users, creating new
> > designs, running contests and holding auctions, running the
> > authentication and payment systems, managing standards, etc., etc., and
> > 80 percent passive users.
>
> That's about the ratio you see on Wikipedia too. With enough users, you
> can still build an insanely large library of 'stuff'. Wikipedia has
> about 1.2 MILLION articles on every subject imaginable - contributed by
> about 10,000 core users (who are very active) and 100,000 occasional
> contributors with 30 billion page hits and about a million unique
> visitors to the site per month.
>
> But Turbosquid is a better example - they store free and almost-free
> 3D models. They have been in business for five years and have about
> 100,000 3D models available - probable about a third of those are free
> and perhaps another third are under $10. The quality is horribly
> variable.
>
> > But that's OK, if it is simple enough for the
> > 80 percent to print lots of copies of things and pay for them on line.
> > If people are willing to pay real money to buy virtual furniture to put
> > in their Sims homes, they might be willing to pay money for copies of
> > real objects.
>
> Yep - exactly.
>
> But if you look at places like 'Second Life' - where people can
> do online 3D design of their virtual world - there is a huge
> and thriving community of 3D designers selling their stuff.
Received on Thu Aug 31 04:08:15 2006