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Last weeks' "The Economist" magazine (February 10) had as its cover a picture of a violin that was created with a 3D printer, "And it plays beautifully!"

Print me a Strativarius

I must admit, 3D printers were not something on my radar, but apparently they are becoming very common, and their price is dropping rapidly. Ever wonder what replicators would do to an economy? Well, this article gets into that, speculating about how 3D printers could change everything.

This gets better, the smaller you go. Nanotech developments already promise to allow manipulation at the microscopic scale and we've even seen machines that can move individual atoms around. We're getting closer and closer to the world that Neal Stephenson described in the Diamond Age ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age ) where all you need is power, data and a feed of raw materials to make anything you need whenever you need it.

I'm not leaping for joy until IV's are a thing of the past. When I can get my meds without getting stuck by needles and worrying about thin wonky viens collapsing I will be happy. That said, this looks pretty darn cool.

I love Neal Stephenson's writing, Cogito! The Baroque Cycle is perhaps my favorite current fiction. (Sorry, I know that's off-topic, but I just can't resist.)

WarpGirl wrote:I'm not leaping for joy until IV's are a thing of the past. When I can get my meds without getting stuck by needles and worrying about thin wonky viens collapsing I will be happy. That said, this looks pretty darn cool.

I am also not a big fan of IV's, so I symphatize with you that you get your meds through IV's. I am sure someone will come up with a new idea to leave IV's behind us.

Hey, why don't we inject them using some sort of subspace matter transport system?

WarpGirl wrote:When I can get my meds without getting stuck by needles and worrying about thin wonky viens collapsing I will be happy.

I think we've still got a way to go. The doc gave me something called 'suppositories' on my last visit, but they didn't work. In fact, for all the good they did me, I may as well have been shoving them up my ass.

I know it. That's why I'm not that excited about a replicator. It seems a bit too frivilous compared to other trek tech. Although in all fairness the same is true of the Cell Phone I-Pad Touch, I-Phone, And every other touch screen device that is basically a PADD.

http://www.xkcd.com/864/

*angry birds* !!!!

Transwarp wrote:The doc gave me something called 'suppositories' on my last visit, but they didn't work. In fact, for all the good they did me, I may as well have been shoving them up my ass.

On past experience, I'm going to remember that one just too late to use it when an opportunity arises.