The Replicators are Coming!
Check out RepRap and then tell me something ... are these guys geniuses, or are they completely bonkers? I don't know ... but I would think it would be impossible to not know about Star Trek (the Borg), StarGate (the Replicators), or the Matrix or every other variant of self-replicating automaton that exists for the sole purpose of taking over the earth, the galaxy, and, ultimately, the universe? There's a difference between innovation and self-elimination. I'm not sure these guys get it. Your thoughts?
The unit makes little plastic parts, and not very well at that; the idea that it "replicated itself" is silly. All it did was create some sloppy plastic parts, which were presumably filed carefully and then used by a human -- together with lots of non-plastic parts -- to build another unit.
Very little filing is being done these days. Print quality is improving by the week. As well as printing, milling of both plastics and printed circuit boards and limited cutting of metal is being done now. The percentage of "non-plastic" parts is being gradually reduced in advanced printer designs while another project is underway to produce a stepper motor, most of the parts of which are printable.
There are already several hundred of these printers in the field worldwide, mostly made with laser-cut parts. While to date a few second generation printers have been made with parts printed by first generation printers, that number is also increasing.
I suspect that is too late to stop the viral dispersion of this technology.
Generation 1: Plastic Parts
Generation 2: Metal Parts
Generation 3: Primitive Integrated Circuits
Generation 4: Terminator s ...
It's a slippery slope ...