3D Printing is the Bellwether Technology of the Singularity
MarketWatch blogger T.S. Troth recently published an article which contemplated the Singularity as the next great industrial revolution. And what technology was called out as the bellwether for the Singularity? 3D printing, of course.
Enter, the Singularity. Ray Kurzweil, who brought this term into the lexicon, defines the Singularity as a time when machine intelligence will reach such a level as to replace human engineers with machines smart enough to make other machines. Many dispute the exact timing of the Singularity’s arrival, but it is coming. The bellwether technology and harbinger of the Singularity’s arrival, as well as the canary in the coal mine for the Ricardian comparative advantages reached by way of cheap labor, is 3D Printing.
From ashtrays to airplanes, 3D Printing is the game-changing technology that will bring manufacturing home to U.S. shores after oh-so-many (painful) years abroad. No more will manufacturing be held hostage by totalitarian, suppressive regimes capable of paying their workers a pittance.
I’m assuming the vast majority of MarketWatch’s readership already knows precisely what 3D Printing is, but for the minority who do not, 3D Printing is, as defined by Wikipedia, “a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital model.” And, to borrow a turn of phrase from the kids, it is freaking rad!
Read Troth’s full essay on the Singularity.
[...] 3D Printing is the Bellwether Technology of the Singularity [...]
I can’t beleive how inciteful this Ted Troth is. Since he wrote this article this industry has exploded into a new stratosphere and now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. I can’t wait to hear what other ideas will come out of this Troth.