User:Djg5125
Blog Entry #2 - 9/13/12
1. I personally do not feel that a self-replication universal constructor is completely feasible, mainly because there are certain components that aren't able to be replicated with this technology. For instance, with the RepRap's themselves, you obviously can't replicate the electronics needed to make the machine run. While much of the body and mechanism could indeed be replicated with one of these machines and substitutes could be found for certain components that can't be replicated, without the electronics, you can't make it run. So I think that while the goal isn't completely out of the picture, I do not feel that it is completely feasible due to these constraints.
2. The phrase simply means that people have the ability of obtaining the things they want without necessarily having to go out and buy them. With one of these machines, people have the ability of manufacturing so many different things that they would no longer need to buy themselves. This in turn helps keep money in their pocket and essentially makes them wealthier in the process. One problem with this statement is while you certainly have the means of making all these things with these machines, there is always going to be a need for raw materials. If everyone has one of these machines, there will be a high demand for these materials which will result in an increase in the price of those materials. Because of this, there may come a point where the cost of manufacturing something yourself is higher than if you were to go out and buy it, thus negating the benefits of the reprap project.
3. As the popularity of these machines continues to increase and are put into more and more people's hands, I feel the possibilities of evolution are endless. There's always going to be someone out there that can do something better or knows of a way to approach something different. That is what makes open-source such a great thing with this project because the amount of feedback that you can get is immense, and only contributes to the increased quality of things and reprap machines. I envision that in the future many different types of materials will be able to be used with these machines. I do not think that creating a reprap that is capable of producing things made out of aluminum, copper, and other soft metals is completely out of the question either. With a development like this, the number of objects that can be replicated would increase dramatically and increase the overall quality as well. I also think as more people contribute to the cause, the cost and ease of making a machine yourself will drop substantially. This in turn will result in an exponential growth of the type of things that are available to be downloaded and manufactured due to the larger community. Overall, I feel the quality of anything and everything reprap will increase as more and more people contribute to the cause.
Blog Entry #1 - 9/3/12
After browsing Thingiverse for awhile, these are the items that I felt met each of the categories:
1. Useful: Bag Holder
While this design may seem silly, I feel like it would be useful in my everyday life. For someone who knows the pain of having to carry four, five, maybe more grocery bags at once while unloading your groceries, this would definitely come in handy for me. I'm a college student, I'm lazy, and I definitely hate taking more than one trip when unloading my groceries from my car, so something like this would make that task very easy and less-painful when trying to carry multiple grocery bags in one hand.
2. Artistic: Flame Light Shade
While browsing through the popular things, I stumbled upon this particular design. It caught my eye and I think its really neat looking. I feel like someone very art oriented would be the person to print something like this out and have it sitting in their house.
3. Pointless: Wolverine Claws
Aside from using these as a prop during Halloween, I honestly can't think of any other reason why you would want a set of Wolverine claws. I understand there are certainly people out there who would love a pair (specifically comic book fans), but I just don't see why I would want to print out my own set to be honest.
4. Funny: Sleeping Pig
I found this design funny simply because the person took the time to make a miniature sized version of a statue they had sitting in their garden. The sleeping pig sitting in someone's yard is funny enough, so if I saw a small sleeping pig sitting on someone's desk, chances are I'd probably chuckle a little. However, I must say the creator did a pretty good job at recreating the object.
5. Weird: Robohamster
This particular design was featured on the main page last week, and my first impression of it was that it was pretty weird look. While I thought this particular design could certainly fit in several other categories, I think weird describes it best. I'm not really sure why someone would want a robot hamster, but whatever floats your boat.
