@thomasfuchs It was overblown, but there is some reality. My husband works at a industrial valve company, and they now 3D print many of their valve parts. OTOH, I have an acquaintance who works printing 3D game settings for RPGs. Larger sets are insanely expensive, even now, because 2x dimensions is 8x printing. He has some amusing stories of the weird stuff that goes wrong in 3D prints, too.
@thomasfuchs@CurtAdams I figured even when they were being hyped that if I got one I'd end up printing 5 or 6 things and all of them would be legitimately useful but then I'd have no further use for the 3D printer.
@thomasfuchs I just recently re-watched that netflix documentary about 3d printing, and how it was going to be the most disruptive technology EVAR.
And then it just wasnt.
Spot on with comparing that hype/bust cycle with recent tech bro rug pulls. I'd add NFTs to the list too...
@thomasfuchs Yeah. what happened to 3d printing?
Don't hear about it any more. Guess that was a brief moment in time. So much hoopla, so little result.
@thomasfuchs I really like this framing, because (a) 3d printers have been useful, but not nearly as broadly as people said, (b) there is still the potential for printers to help people, and (c) for all practical purposes, those promises were empty.
@masayume@thomasfuchs As far as I saw those "3D-printed" houses are solid concrete construction and very expensive, because that much concrete is pretty expensive. Also shit for maintenance, can't easily do wiring/piping because it can only be run either on layers and laid-over, and thus embedded, or run between drywall and the concrete. Can of course drill through but that's a long drilling distance!
We were promised cheap housing as a result but now it's more expensive than ever and being snatched up with this bullshit built-to-rent trend, with entire developments springing up marketing their new housing to rental firms with the hopes they'll be bought at even-more-inflated prices purely to rent, meanwhile often sitting empty because the prices are unafforable to so many, and those who can afford are the ones running the scams to begin with. Still waiting to see what inevitably bursts that bubble explosively, because surely CNN or whoever else will blame millenials or "the 99%" or whatever the hell scapegoat for the bad investment choices of others.
I'm just so salty about the housing in particular as I watch my town being transformed into an empty husk of a hellhole where my rent costs keep rising because new units are being built with higher rent, even though my unit hasn't got nearly the treatment to deserve those kinds of price increases. And even though I can afford it, I have friends living here who can't, and are frightened with nothing else they can really do. They already live in some of the cheapest housing in a "low-cost-of-living" area. So what do they do now?
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