What can I say about printers? You know– the computer printers that totally screwed up the concept of the “paperless office”? Seems EVERYBODY had to have a freaking printer with their computer so they could “Print that out”, whatever it was. And they need paper to make it happen. Stupid, dumb printers. Only thing good about them was that IT professionals made good money helping office workers make sure the “ON-LINE” button was pressed.
I DON’T LIKE PRINTERS and I stay away from them as much as possible!
Now there is a new kind of printer out there: They call it a 3-D Printer. Why? I hate printers! Call it something else other than a PRINTER! Please.
The output of the so-called 3-D Printer
I don’t really know what these are, but they were made by one or more of the devices on this page, these things that are not printers but perhaps RAPID PROTOTYPING UNITS. The title of this post is WWGCD, and it means: What Would George Carlin Do? He (George Carlin) once said: “Have you ever noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff?” Exactly!
The Afinia 3D
For maybe around $1600 you could get an Afinia 3D prototype unit that feeds ABS or PLA plastic filament from a spool and extrudes the plastic from the working end (heated to 260 deg C) to make a customized bobble head doll, perhaps.
The Etec Ultra
Using a light-activated liquid polymer, the Etec Ultra can build your project optimizing the DLP projection concept from TI (maybe you’ve seen a DLP projection in your local movie theater?). This model has optional scanning capabilities so you could make clones! Don’t know how much this one costs.
The Lulzbot AO 101
You might have been able to get your hands on a new one of these for $1700, but Aleph Objects, Inc. out of Loveland no longer makes this model. Check out the TAZ below.
The Lulzbot TAZ
The latest model, the TAZ-2 can be purchased for $2400 and according to Aleph Objects, Inc., the software AND the hardware is OPEN SOURCE! On one of their websites they say that this 3D movement will have a monumental game-changer effect similar to what Gutenberg had done around 1450 or so (sigh! Yet another printer ref).
The Objet 30 Pro
Here’s what they call a desktop model but this company has other models available including the Fortus series that uses Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) maybe starting at $10,000.
Just the Quick Stats, please
In case you were wondering, these printers are available for ordinary citizens to use (might be a waiting list) at the I2P lab at CSU. So, what would George Carlin Do or say? He might continue with his routine about STUFF:
A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff. If you happen to get a 3D printer, you first have to move some of your stuff to a different location so you can put the damn printer on your table. And then what does it do? IT MAKES MORE STUFF!