Brendon J. Wilson

 by Brendon J. Wilson

America: &%$# Yeah!

img_0021Ashley and I are currently back in Silicon Valley for a quick trip to visit with friends and attend MacWorld. It’s kind of weird to be back – has it already been a year since we left? The time back in Vancouver has given me an opportunity to get a little perspective on the time we spent in the US, and come to conclusions about what I like and dislike about each. But that’s something for a different post – this post is all about the things I missed about the US:

  • Crazy products: It’s an historic time in the US – with the election of Barack Obama, change is in the air, and it’s time to celebrate…with a sweet collectible commemorative plate! Only $20! Comes with a certificate of authenticity! And a warning that you shouldn’t use it to serve food!
  • Sweet tea: There’s iced tea and then there’s sweet tea. Sweet tea is sugar held in suspension by the minimum amount of water possible. It makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it. Two gallons for $5, this week only at Walgreen’s.
  • Carnitas: Technically not an American thing, but I’m not about to travel to Mexico just to get a decent taco. If eating fried pork is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.
  • Bumper sticker politics: Why bother to articulate your thoughts carefully through public speaking or other political discourse when you can say it all with a humorous yet topical bumper sticker? Tell the world how you support John Kerry in 2004!
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 by Brendon J. Wilson

The “Fab”-ulous Future

I remember my high school got a CNC milling machine – a device that would allow you to feed in 3D drawings over the network for the milling machine to carve out of metal, plastic, or wood. It was revolutionary for the time.

Fast forward to today. We’re rapidly approaching the kind of “fabrication on demand” envisioned by science fiction from Star Trek to The Diamond Age. Already there’s a 3D printer that costs less than $5K and can fit comfortably on your desk. Meanwhile, the Open Source community is working hard to make the same capabilities available for free through the Fab@Home project.

More interestingly, a number of services have appeared online that provide creators with access to sophisticated rapid prototyping capabilities. Offline services, such as TechShop in the Bay Area, provide creators with access to tools. But that is just a stopgap between dedicated hardware, and on-demand online services that print custom objects. Online services such as eMachineShop provide the ability to perform heavy-duty machining to create custom components in a wide array of materials, whereas providers like Shapeways provides the ability to create 3D objects in a variety of plastics. And it probably won’t be long until we see services allowing users to print circuit boards using cheap inkjet technology.

One of the more interesting services I’ve seen so far has been Ponoko, which allows creators to use laser cutting to punch out shapes in cardboard, felt, wood, metal, or plastic. While this service is slightly more limited, given that it can only create 2D shapes, it has a unique ability to create objects from photos – no CAD software required.

As these rapid prototyping services have come online, many have incorporated a marketplace for creators to sell their wares. Which begs the question: how long until we see a clandestine trade develop around electronic blueprints for common goods that can be cheaply manufactured using these services? The “Napster of Things” can’t be too far behind…

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