As more and more people are getting 3D printers in their homes, I’m seeing more and more people also wanting to start a business based around their new 3D printer. I’m also seeing that most of them aren’t yet thinking creatively about the concept.
When you start work at frog, you are given your choice of computer type, desk type, and a selection of useful desk items, including a nice IKEA TERTIAL desk lamp with a nice, bright, CFL bulb. These lamps are great at illuminating your desk, but they also can cause pain to any coworker who happens to be on the wrong side of the shade.
Apologies in advance: this post is more scattered than normal as there is no story here, just passion and feeling. And some pictures.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: 3D printers can, more easily than almost any other tool out there, turn dreams into reality. The barriers to the physical manifestation of almost any idea have been greatly reduced, and there is no reason that every thing one can envision shouldn’t be 3D printed, regardless of how silly it may seem.
See this:
Yeah – that’s an awesome half of a box. But not just any half of a box. That half-box fits over the end of a juice box. “Whoopty-do” you say, and I admit that by itself it’s not that big of a deal. But… what if…
As I mentioned in my first attempt at creating a very small headphone shirt clip, I wanted to revisit the design and make some adjustments based on what I had learned. I got a chance over this holiday weekend to do just that — take some more measurements, make some new designs, and print some more clips.
I like my Bose earbud headphones: they stay in my ear when I’m walking or jogging, and don’t bleed sound to folks around me like the stock white Apple ones. I really like the little clip that lets me attach the cable to my shirt, keeping the wires from that point on to my ears at a constant distance; I can turn my head in any direction and won’t be restricted by the wires back down to my pants pocket.
Walking to work one morning, thinking about how nice this clip is, I thought that I should try to make a similar clip for the white headphones, just to see if it could be done. And, of course, I could share it on Thingiverse.
Okay – let’s cut through all my hype and hyperbole of parts 1 and 2, and talk about reality.
It’s nice and all to be dreaming of a (near) future where everyone can be designing and 3D printing “things” that change the world, not just 3D printing other people’s “things”. That’s not what the future is, I know that. It doesn’t happen in other areas, why would it happen here?
In Part 1, I talked about the how and why of me wanting to experiment with 3D printing, and how my learnings early-on kept me looking for ways to augment my surroundings — even outside the home.
