Hacker Timesnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

If 3D printers were not just affordable but infallible, yes. It would be easier to have a bioreactor bubbling away to synthesize your pharmaceuticals than to try and make a lab-in-a-box kit that was equally robust (more like brewing kombucha in your kitchen than Breaking Bad for Dummies), but either way you still need to assay the results...


> If 3D printers were not just affordable but infallible, yes.

Infallible and easy to use. But you still need to buy the raw materials, unless we're talking Star Trek energy-matter conversion, which isn't on the horizon.

Otherwise, why would an average consumer think that buying the raw material and feeding it to their 3D printer is that much more convenient than just stopping by Walmart or ordering off Amazon? And would it even be cheaper, since the consumer loses the economy of scale in their individualized production?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: