Ups And Downs - It all Works to the Good

Got to be honest – it has been a bit of an up and down couple of weeks for me. Went through a not insignificant down period, when I was questioning the whole 3D printing thing. Not the technologies themselves, obviously, they are still real, they are still evolving apace, and sales of machines across the board are still increasing.

So, why the downer? Sometimes, doing what I do, I get the feeling that I am just banging my head against a brick wall and only preaching to the converted! It’s happened before, and I’m sure it will happen again. It is par for the course really [do you like my timely golf analogy as a hat tip to the British Open?] as a commentator in the 3D printing space when there are weeks that you can see huge leaps and bounds forward that are so exciting and uplifting and other weeks when I really do wonder if anything I say actually makes a difference, and, if it is time to get a proper job!?

Don’t worry, this is not a self-pity party! I am just using these personal experiences to highlight the reality of an emerging technology. And make no mistake, 3D printing is still an emerging technology.

I have had a few conversations in the last couple of weeks that have reiterated that the full potential of 3D printing is not even close to being realized today. And that the technology processes and platforms that exist today will be regarded as quaint, archaic artifacts that point to how the pioneers of this technology for mainstream makers and consumers worked with rudimentary equipment as they developed and progressed the technology itself and applications.

The most recent conversation was particularly enlightening, I think maybe because it was so unexpected, and it taught me that preaching to the converted is not necessarily such a bad thing. 

Heading down to London for some much needed training on WordPress, I was intrigued to discover that the person conducting the training, like me, is a freelancer, but unlike me, he has a number of strings to his bow. Alex supplies website design and coding services — no surprise, based on why we were there. He is also a freelance industrial designer and the Designer in Residence at Glasgow School of Art, where his responsibilities include teaching 3D CAD and consultation on 3D printing and CNC machining.

Needless to say, even as Alex displayed endless patience with regard to our primary purpose, we often got sidetracked with conversations about 3D printing and its application in the real world. As we debated what it could do now and the limitations it presented, particularly in terms of surface finish and strength, and even understanding these limitations as I do, some of Alex’s opinions really shocked me, including the fact that he viewed even some of the most sophisticated industrial 3D printers as wholly deficient. Furthermore, I had the strong impression that Alex viewed my ideological views rather skeptically. At the end of the day, having accomplished a satisfactory result in terms of using the WordPress CMS, it transpired we would be taking the same tube journey and we continued our conversation about 3D printing for prototyping applications and mainstream / consumer adoption. Alex, a pragmatist, was adamant that it will never be a household tool, although he did express his vision for 3D printers as toys within some households. I challenged his use of the word ‘never’! When I backed this up with my own forecasts with nano materials and my predicted timeline for 3D printers, in a form unrecognizable today, becoming a true plug and play device, I think I gave him some food for thought.

I have tried to avoid predictions for the future recently in a bid to eschew hype and speculation, but in an emerging sector, it is inevitable and in some cases, desirable, I find. So long as I keep moving forward, at this time, I’m not sure it matters if it’s a cyclic motion. 

Trip Down Memory Lane

Yesterday was a nostalgic day for me, it turned out to be a good day in more ways than one, if a little challenging at times. Living in a beautiful and semi-rural part of North Wales my reasons for visiting our great capital are few. And when I do go, my usual transport of choice is my car — my space, my music, my company! Can't beat it, even in a traffic jam or full-on gridlock! That said, with an appointment in London scheduled for yesterday afternoon and a forecast of several more inches of snow, the UK road network and dwindling grit supplies held no appeal whatsoever. So the train it was!

My journey — one that would provide excellent material for any half-decent stand up comedian — began with a just-in-time arrival at Chester train station, literally, two minutes to spare, I hadn't even sat down before the train started moving. The anxiety of the will I / won't I make it had just started to subside, as I wriggled around in my less than spacious seat trying to get comfortable, when the strangest sounds started to register! The gentleman sat next to me (who had politely overlooked my wriggling) glanced at me a little apprehensively but my glance back must have been equally as worried. We both realised around the same time that the sounds were emanating from a more elderly gentleman sat behind us, and the sounds were the result of him having absolutely no qualms about sniffing, snorting or breaking wind at will! After the event - highly amusing, at the time, not so much! After two hours and one minute (bang on time) I arrived in London, the old boy had fallen asleep around Birmingham and I am adept at blanking out the sound of snoring!

And so on to the tube, which is where the nostalgia comes into play. In my university days I was adept at tube journeys, having to traverse London on my way home, or to visit numerous friends who had chosen London as their place of study. Yesterday, I was thrown into a bit of a panic when after one stop an announcement was made that the train was going no further due to a broken down train further up the line. Trains would be severely disrupted for the next few hours! Consulting my diary underground map I figured three more tubes and I could get relatively close to where I wanted to go!! No other line took me to my intended destination. I did it. And I was only an hour late. A minor achievement in the scheme of things — but it felt good and brought back great memories that I hadn't visited in a while.

And just in case you are interested: I had a good meeting, and my return journey, three hours later, was uneventful, peaceful, and even allowed for a leisurely coffee at Euston station!