Complain about overpriced plastic dingus and a stranger will model a free 3D printable version

boing
21

In general, printed plastics are weaker than molded plastics of the same shape/chemistry, but the extent of variation isn’t easy to predict.

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So basically, if you develop a novel tool, you have to either sell it cheaply, or be prepared to defend your patent to the death, which is expensive, and drives up the cost of the product.

And where this is a pretty niche tool, you probably can’t recoup your R&D costs easily by selling it cheaply and making it up on volume.

I’m not sure I feel all warm and fuzzy about this.

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I have some great concepts for 3D printed oatmeal.

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I so thought this was about sex toys, until I realised that “dingus” wasn’t a rude word. I’m quite disappointed now.

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I’m right there with ya. And when did $45 dollars become expensive for a tool? If you’re running so much CAT5 that the original device would be useful, it will have payed for itself in the course of an afternoon.

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For unexpectedly small values of “a lot.” Stratasys is the largest vendor out there (and have swallowed up many competitors like Objet and MakerBot). When I saw their sales numbers I was really surprised at how few units are sold - slightly less than 2,000 a month was their peak in 2013. That is double the previous year’s quarter, so there’s growth, but it’s a really tiny market right now.

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Yes Cory it is a bit of a futuristic moment only the future you pine for appears dystopian to me. How do you know some accidental inventor invested his personal wealth to develop this idea? he might have even quit his job with a fortune 500 company to start his cable comb company. and now it is commoditized. [Sigh.] Say good-bye to innovation.

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28

Patents only allow you to sue people who make a profit using your protected invention. I doubt your patent would do much good against home printers. Niche tools are probably the most fertile market for 3D printers. (Assuming broad availability of printers that can produce parts strong enough to do more than look pretty).

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