Still a few years away from hitting the mass market but I’ll bet that any day now there will be laws passed against such devices. Imagine the loss of revenue that such items could cause for companies? Oh no! You could pirate everything! Anarchy in the streets!!!
I’m just kidding, I don’t believe that devices like this could ever produce exact replicas of existing products. The only way that could happen is if you could build things atom by atom. However, I’m sure that some lobbyist will bend the ear of a politician and fill his head up with all sorts of crazy ideas, ideas that will eventually force said lobbyist to not provide trips and gifts because his company just can’t afford it any more… Oops! I’m being cynical again aren’t I?
The “self replicating rapid prototyper” or RepRap could vastly reduce the cost of 3D printers, paving the way for a future where broken objects and spare parts are simply “re-printed” at home. New and unique objects could also be created.
3D printer to churn out copies of itself
(Thanks Steve for sending me this link! )