REPRAP: It builds itself!

What if you had a machine that could build itself and then build anything else it wanted? This is scary idea, right? Because then it could just build itself over and over again until I don't know - it takes over the world!

Somehow, it seems less scary when these guys are involved.

This has been a really cool project I've been following for the last several years - The Replicating Rapid Prototyper. They have made some great progress on the REPRAP. They have an operating version of the machine, and several children machine. The first grandchildren machines are being made now. The improved next generation machine (which of course is being built by the first working version) will be able to handle more materials.

If you look about 1/2 down into their site, they seem to think that capitalism will be slain by this machine. I see it rapidly evolving over the next 10 years into something extremely useful, but I do not see this slaying capitalism. It may make some things to cheap to make for producers, which should free up loads of production to work on more useful stuff.

Now if there are well made commodity goods to exact specifications that you can cheaply build at home, what does this do to our economy? I think it free up not just money, but time and energy for people. If you don't have to go to the store to get some straps, or nails or how about that weed wacker line I need, then it saves me not just the outrageous 8 dollars for the packet, but also the packaging, the time to get there and back, the bags to carry it, the taxes to purchase it, the drive to get there and home, and the unnecessary stale mounds bar