Here's a great video to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMhNapObKQk. It's only 30 seconds long, so have a go. ... OK, you're back?
Now go have a look at this detailed writeup of the story behind that video, and the hornet's nest of who-invented-what and how-do-you-control-an-idea debates that have arisen over the past few days.
I know very little about 3D printers; I've never seen one in person, just read about them. I found this background paper by Michael Weinberg to be very well-written and interesting, though:
It Will Be Awesome If They Don't Screw It Up: 3D Printing, Intellectual Property, and the Fight Over the Next Great Disruptive Technology
Cory Doctorow is also doing a great job of covering this story, over at the BoingBoing blog.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Even if not one cent is involved, creative people do get riled up about non-attribution. Yet... all the evidence I've seen indicates that discoveries are inevitable, due to the ideas fluttering around, and often it's really hard to decide who thought the critical thought first.
ReplyDeleteSome advanced form of humanity will have to learn to cooperate (that is, if the species expects to endure)... and if we do cooperate, then who was first may become less important... we all got there first, and we all should be rewarded.