With replicator technology available, there will be little distinction between tangible personal property and intellectual property.
FORBES: Must Earl Grey Collect Sales Tax From Captain Picard?
"Basically the goal is to create a Star Trek-style replicator in 20 years, " Gershenfeld says.
That's a full 37 percent larger than the original Replicator, but the machine itself is the same exact size.
ENGADGET: MakerBot unveils Replicator 2, 2X and launches retail store, we go eyes-on
But it all sort of drives the same point home -- the Replicator is far from a plug-and-play 3D solution.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
The model 70CT, with a port replicator, includes a 120-MHz Pentium MMX chip, a 1.5GB hard drive, and PC Card slots.
The new printer has a resolution of 100 microns, by comparison, the original Replicator had a layer resolution of 270 microns.
ENGADGET: MakerBot unveils Replicator 2, 2X and launches retail store, we go eyes-on
Before the Replicator begins printing, there's a bit of a waiting process.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
Even though we've seen high resolutions out of machines like the Replicator 2, the difference 25 microns makes is practically indistinguishable.
Resist buying things that you can make on your MakerBot Replicator 2.
FORBES: MakerBot, The Next Generation: Replicator 2 Is The Finest Desktop 3-D Printer Ever
The Replicator 2 that the company announced yesterday may change all that.
FORBES: MakerBot, The Next Generation: Replicator 2 Is The Finest Desktop 3-D Printer Ever
After all, we'd see the Replicator in action a number of times, including right in front of us on the Engadget Show.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
But, while the Replicator comes mostly assembled, there are still a number of things that have to be screwed, tightened, routed and attached.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
What makes the Replicator 2 unique is that these layers are now 100 microns thick about as thin as a sheet of printer paper.
FORBES: MakerBot, The Next Generation: Replicator 2 Is The Finest Desktop 3-D Printer Ever
The Replicator ships with a small plastic square its makers use to test the printer in order to make sure that everything is running well.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
Settings can be adjusted on the Replicator itself by way of the LCD, but the tiny display makes these things a bit of a chore.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
Both the LIFEBOOK E752 and LIFEBOOK S752 notebooks support up to three active displays with the Optional Port Replicator -- increasing productivity for multitasking users.
It's this process, ultimately, that's at the center of the Replicator.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
It's a truly awe-inspiring technology that has already begun to transform design industries, and the Replicator takes a big step toward making it a home-based technology.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
If you find yourself needing other ports, such as USB 3.0, Firewire and the like, you can always snag a port replicator such as the Thunderbolt Express.
ENGADGET: Intel NUC review: a little desktop PC that holds big promise
You can also export the project to an SD card to stick into the Replicator or, if you're already tethered, you can start printing directly from the software.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
Honestly, thinking of this like frozen yogurt isn't all that far off -- the Replicator creates solid objects by layering levels of thin plastic extrusions on top of themselves.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
For the most part, however, the Replicator is really about novelty and the mere cool factor of having a product that can print out just about anything you can imagine.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
That's the quandary we tackle in this edition of our weekly tablet mag as Brian Heater spends some quality time with the MakerBot Replicator at Engadget's NYC Headquarters.
ENGADGET: Distro Issue 52: Does the MakerBot Replicator signal the dawn of in-home 3D printing?
Sure MakerBot earned a fair amount of attention at last year's show with the announcement of the Replicator, which snagged its share of awards from various press outlets.
As mentioned above, the initial run of the product was a loud one -- there was a good deal of grinding noises and foundation-shaking vibrations as the Replicator went to work.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
Even put together, the Replicator isn't all that slick.
ENGADGET: MakerBot Replicator impressions: the dawning of 3D printers in every home?
Skipping over the residential-friendly MakerBot Replicator, the company used a beastly industrial VX4000 3D printer to craft three 1:3 scale models of the car with a plot to blow them to smithereens.
ENGADGET: Voxeljet 3D printer used to produce Skyfall's Aston Martin stunt double
From the polished, slightly-heavy body to the port replicator to the geeky hip pouch, everything feels solidly built -- as we would hope for a product that's been in development for several years.
ENGADGET: Hands-on with Vulcan's Flipstart handheld PC Hands-on
These three kits are perfect companions to the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, as they all require custom items to hold the electronics, which can all be 3D printed on a MakerBot.
There's stockings hung above the fireplace, overflowing hot cocoa on the table, a MakerBot Replicator 2 printing ornaments beneath the tree and a sampling of the year's most exciting gadgets strewn about.
应用推荐