The House You Download To Your Desktop

It’s possible. Even a guy in the tiny, impoverished African country of Togo has done it. For someone living in a low-tech society like 33-year old Kodjo Afate Gnikou, spending $800 for a desktop printer is a little steep. So Afate constructed his own working printer from junk, mostly spare computer, scanner and inkjet printer parts he found in a local dump. It’s believed to be the world’s first 3-D printer made from e-waste.

When Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer¸ he probably didn’t realize he would summarize today’s global financial system in one scene… Tom, the main character, actually convinces his peers to pay him, and give him things, for the privilege of doing his chores — specifically, whitewashing fences. And eventually, he’s got everyone doing it.

The housing market is in shambles. Thanks to years of unsavory lending practices, home foreclosures are at record highs across the country, and what was once a safe, reliable investment -- or at least something to "flip" for a quick profit -- has become an outright liability.But from the ashes of this current housing meltdown, a new model for building and designing homes is poised to emerge, one fueled not only by technological innovation and a desire to reduce our footprint on the planet, but ultimately a complete re-imagining of what the home can and should be.

Few topics are as hot in manufacturing as 3D printing (also termed additive manufacturing). 3D printers spit out bits of metal or plastic in much the same way an ink jet printer spits out ink. While layering ink on ink doesn’t get you much, layering plastic on plastic allows for objects to gradually be built up. Much has been written about the potential impact of this new way of making stuff. Indeed, we already have several posts on the topic.

We crossed another milestone in industrial history last week. Over the weekend of May 4-5, 2013, the world’s first handgun was printed on a 3-D printer. It was fired and it worked. The implications are dazzling for people all over the world. The printers will become cheaper over time. The files for printing can be distributed all over the world through the Internet. And no government in the world is in a position to stop it.

By Lambert Strether of Corrente.