XPost: sci.space.policy, sci.physics, sci.electronics.design   
   From: gossg@gossg.org   
      
   David Mitchell  wrote:   
      
   >jimp@specsol.spam.sux.com wrote:   
   >   
   >> And about the only place where weight matters that much is in things   
   >> that fly and in that case useless mass is already gone from the design   
   >> without the expense of 3D printing.   
   >>   
   >> Have you ever looked at the interior structures of an aircraft?   
   >>   
   >> 3D printing is, and always will be, a niche manufacturing method.   
   >   
   >"Nobody needs more than 640K"   
   >   
   >I don't really think it's sensible to say "never" wrt technology - you're   
   >judging a very immature technology   
      
   The Altair was obsolete in two years.  The Apple ][ was obsolete in   
   five, though genius level reworkings kept it going for what, 12?  The   
   context for that quote was the decision to build a computer with ten   
   times the memory capacity of the normal business computer out there at   
   the time, with the expectation that they would totally revamp the   
   design in a few years.  Remember that was the time when Microsoft bet   
   big on Unix as the next big thing.  Nobody expected to be finding ISA   
   compatible computers running a compatible OS 35 years later.   
      
      
   >   
   >The biggest problem wrt printing vehicles will, I suspect, be the legislation   
   >governing safety.   
      
   --   
   We are geeks.  Resistance is voltage over current.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)