Video Of The Week: 3D Printing and The Future Of Shopping

Here's a great interview that ReasonTV recently did with Peter Weijmarshausen, who is the founder and CEO of our portfolio company Shapeways. It's only 6 1/2 minutes long so it's short and sweet.

#entrepreneurship

Comments (Archived):

  1. aminTorres

    Peter’s head is on the right place. I like how he understand his pace and within that space he focuses in the part of it with more potential.

    1. fredwilson

      yup. we really like the part of the market he is focused on.

      1. andyswan

        That’s a great way to put it. It’s probably one of the toughest things to figure out for most entrepreneurs.

  2. Matt A. Myers

    His last sentence really sums up why custom will take off;”Empowering people to get products they want.”It’s also similarly why quality over quantity will start to become a bigger purchase decision point.

    1. Dave Pinsen

      Customization doesn’t always dominate. Look at socks, for example. There are a few companies out there making fitted ones (I own a couple of pairs Mizuno socks I wear to the gym), but I bet the vast majority of men’s socks sold in the US are marked “size 6-12” (quite a range).

      1. jason wright

        i bought a pair of merrell barefoot trail running shoes this week. i chose my size, but they are quite a bit too short. i need a shoe shop that scans my feet and prints my shoes.

        1. Elia Freedman

          Shoes are an amazing problem. Every foot is drastically different and the shoe you put on it has such a huge impact on your health.

          1. jason wright

            i will be taking a scalpel to my garage shoes this afternoon to make my big toes a lot happier.

          2. Matt A. Myers

            Remove feet first, please.

          3. jason wright

            oops.

          4. pointsnfigures

            yes. my size 14 A feet need 3D printed shoes.

          5. fredwilson

            there are some crazy 3d printed shoes on shapewayshere is onehttp://www.shapeways.com/mo…

          6. jason wright

            looks like the fossil of an impossible creature

          7. Matt A. Myers

            Is that really functional though? Or comfortable? I’ll believe you when I see you wearing them. 😉

          8. Brad Dickason

            This designer has some very nice (albeit extremely uncomfortable) 3D Printed shoes as well: http://www.shapeways.com/sh

          9. pointsnfigures

            Are you suggesting I get a pair of high heels? At 6″5″ I don’t look good in drag! ; ) Those shoes are cool looking though.

          10. fredwilson

            i was not suggesting them for you, but i thought you’d enjoy seeing them

        2. James Ferguson @kWIQly

          Why wife runs barefoot – Her running gear was customer made by her mother !you can take a woman out of Africa – but you cant take Africa out of the girl.

        3. Jack Dawson

          I would love to have that available to me – not just for shoes, but for clothing in general. I have a hard time finding the right fit.

        4. Matt A. Myers

          Just because something fits right doesn’t mean it moves in a way that is comfortable to you. Seams could get in the way, bend in an awkward way, all kinds of possible problems.

          1. LE

            “Seams could get in the way”Assume you know about “gold toe” branding? I use to buy those until I found these which are really comfortable and even better, I highly recommend:http://www.amazon.com/Power

          2. Matt A. Myers

            I like higher-cut socks, at least during wintertime for my boots!Edit: Oh – they have them too..

          3. LE

            Yeah I was just going to say that actually.

        5. ShanaC

          they do that now for women’s high heels. They are super expensive (but if I had the money I would try a pair to see if they are that comfortable, especially as I have hard to fit feet)

          1. panterosa,

            where?

      2. kidmercury

        that’s only because of marketing and costs. if it was easier and cheaper to get personalized stuff, i think socks too would be personalized. i think in a few decades everything will be personalized and those born after this inflection point won’t even think of it as personalization; they’ll just think of it as the way things are.

        1. jason wright

          if i was uber wealthy i’d have all my clothes handmade my nibble fingered artisans. such skills and knowledge needs supporting or it’s zen and the motorbike time for civilization, and that’s one step away from extinction.

          1. kidmercury

            such skills and knowledge will be needed more than ever once 3D printing is in full effect. that goes back to our conversation earlier this week, new technology does not just concentrate value in software development, rather it creates greater demand for specialized skills like knitting or whatever by lowering the cost of purchasing those skills. when a skilled artisan can use a 3D printer to cheaply make you custom-made clothes, you won’t need to be uber-wealthy to get a custom wardrobe. in fact everyone will have a custom wardrobe and it so it won’t be thought of as a custom wardrobe — rather just a wardrobe.

          2. Matt A. Myers

            This is what I’m “betting” on.

          3. jason wright

            interesting – six months old. thx.

        2. Matt A. Myers

          Yup, as I mentioned in my reply to Dave – it’s due to economies of scale. But it provides piss-poor utility compared to otherwise if they fit properly.

        3. ShanaC

          nah. Some things are harder to make personalized. Like stockings. Close enough often just works (for the real kind at least)

          1. kidmercury

            harder for now, in due time it will be harder (and thus more expensive) NOT to personalize it because of the systems in the world will be designed for mass personalization.

        4. LE

          “i think socks too would be personalized.”Don’t agree with you on that. That’s a problem that for the vast majority of people doesn’t need to be solved. Now of course that doesn’t mean that a market couldn’t be developed for it.Look at luxury watches as an example, particularly for men. It’s actually a solution to the problem of getting men to buy jewelry not a time device.I mean seriously who needs a watch on their wrist when they have a smartphone? Who needs a watch when they are sitting in front of a computer which has a clock right in front of them. I haven’t worn a watch in more than 20 years I’ve lost track of the exact last time at this point.But while a market could develop for customized socks I don’t think it will. Nobody can see the socks you are wearing unlike other things (shoes, jackets, shirts or perhaps underwear maybe maybe). Most people don’t think like Steve Jobs father (“other side of the fence”).

        5. Dave Pinsen

          Not so much marketing — customized could be a marketing boon — but certainly costs. People expect socks to be cheap, unless they are buying niche, special-purpose ones, like these cool-looking Ducati socks. Note the “L” on the left sock there — different shapes for left and right feet. Same with my Mizunos.

      3. Matt A. Myers

        This is due to economies of scale, however in reality this is a market that could and should be disrupted. My socks don’t last me very long, and it’s a huge pain in the ass to get them. My feet are size 13-15 depending on the brand of shoe, and I seem to have a bit wider feet than average.

        1. ShanaC

          narrower is much more difficult to find for some reason (I should know, I have narrow feet with really high arches). You can walk into payless and find lots of wide shoes,due to wait gain in the US.

          1. Dave Pinsen

            I actually meant socks that are more precisely-sized, e.g., size 11 instead of size 6-12. Poorly worded by me.

        2. Dave Pinsen

          If you think it can be disrupted, go for it. But from what I’ve seen, the narrowly-sized socks are niche athletic ones.

    2. jason wright

      it could be highly environmentally friendly with little waste, or quite the opposite as it unleashes the human ego on a monumental scale.$50 very well invested 🙂

  3. jason wright

    I like bicycles. this 3d application appeals to me, but the general possibilities are endless.http://www.youtube.com/watc

    1. Matt A. Myers

      Wow. Didn’t realize this process could be used with titanium. That just opened up my ideas to lots of things. Thanks for sharing.Oh, and I too like bikes – though the one I got at a police auction when I was 15 for $50 still does the job. 😉

      1. pointsnfigures

        My own golf clubs…..

      2. ShanaC

        you can do it with gold too.

        1. Matt A. Myers

          That would be a bit more expensive me thinks..

  4. jason wright

    what killed the Krell?

  5. awaldstein

    Discipline in making videos like discipline in writing posts is so appreciated.Harder to edit video and audio than words but guess, what–it’s worth it cause we watch/listen.

    1. fredwilson

      Short and sweet!!!!

    2. LE

      “Discipline in making videos”Agree.The tempo of the interviewer and Peter are also very good. Makes it much easier to watch. [1] Should be a lesson for anyone creating a video. If you are inteviewing speak quickly and the person being questions will answer quickly (parroting).[1] Similar to when you are in a long line at a store you don’t want to see the clerk move slowly you want to see them move quickly otherwise it’s more annoying irregardless of the actual time that passes.

  6. Dave W Baldwin

    This is a very interesting realm.

  7. William Mougayar

    It makes me want to try it because it’s one of those things that one won’t fully understand or appreciate until they do it.I’ve said it before, – “3D printing” is such as bad name for it.

    1. JimHirshfield

      What would you call it?

      1. William Mougayar

        I don’t know exactly. That’s where the genius of that industry has to come together and say “we’ve got a marketing problem.”It’s like- if sushi was marketed as “dead cold fish”.

        1. JimHirshfield

          Yeah, I think that’s the literal translation of “sushi” into English. ;-)Maybe.

        2. pointsnfigures

          or bait.

        3. LE

          “sushi”The problem is people keep trying to think of words that already mean something in order to come up with a better way to describe it. But that’s not what’s needed here. What’s needed is a completely new word that currently has no meaning (or perhaps like sushi meaning in another language).That’s the solution to this. That way that word will become the “Xerox” or “Kleenex” or “surf” and people will learn to associate it with a mental idea of what can be done. So really any good word will do it’s all in the marketing and education to associate that word with the solution and benefits.”Blog” may have come from “web log” which is a portmanteau but does that really matter? The word “blog” stands on it’s own and if it was called “snoog” from the start how different would that be? What about the word “clog” for a type of shoe? What about “shoe” for a “shoe”. What about “web”. What about “television” or even “tv”. Everything got it’s start somewhere. “tl;dr -> Invent a word.

          1. ShanaC

            Zerg?

          2. LE

            Not sure. Sounds slow big and green. Or maybe what someone does after a night of drinking. Or sold at Trader Joe’s. We can pickle that.While using “Z” is not a non-starter in itself, if possible and all things equal, I would also gravitate toward the start of the alphabet.One good thing though is that with “erg” you can do “erged” as in it was “zerged” or “zergify” or “zergoff”. When people start ripping off branded goods this will go well in the papers “the fake David Yurman jewelry is part of a growing trend of “zergoffs” hitting the market lately all manufactured in Brooklyn.”.Probably good practice is to run though an exercise seeing how using “twitter” as a name has benefited them:Company: twitterWhat people do: tweetWhere: twittersphereWhat sycophants do: retweethttp://twittonary.com/

          3. ShanaC

            i did not know that (mostly because I am not a gamer)

          4. Luke Chamberlin

            That’s why I added the asterisk. “Well-known” is such a relative and deceptive term.

          5. William Mougayar

            We need to ask 6 year-olds. They’ll name it. And we’ll all say Duh, of course it is that.

          6. LE

            You might be kidding but I think that’s a pretty good idea.I think the naming of so many things “ly” has it’s origins in the show “teletubbies” and who might of watched that as a child.It came to the US in 1998.http://en.wikipedia.org/wik…Note also the cutsy names of the characters.While dates don’t exactly match if you do the math as a stretch if you consider the older siblings observing what their younger siblings are watching we can reverse engineer this (and prove my point correct!)Possible also that the VC’s have kids of the age that watched the show.Can’t think of a time in business where there were so many company names that were cute sounding unless they were rainbow related.Ref:http://nancyfriedman.typepa…Check out this pinterest:http://pinterest.com/fritin…(By the way I’ve considered the fact that there is a perceived lack of names in .com and how easy it is to get a domain in .ly as well.)And as I’ve mentioned to both you ( http://engag.io ) and Andy http://voom.ly I think it’s a bad idea to center your brand around a cctld. In fact I’ve already had emails that I’ve sent to Andy bounce because by accident I typed voom.ly.com instead of voom.ly .) I’m a trained professional but occasionally even my fingers slip.

          7. William Mougayar

            That pinterest board on .ly is hillarious. thanks. I was serious. I’d like to see a 6-10 yr old’s reaction to what this 3D printing is. Let Cosby interview them.

        4. wiwa

          Additive MFGOn-demand MFGRapid Prototyping3D printingRapid ToolingShort-run MFGDo we need to think of spiffy marketing memes for “injection molding”, “CNC milling”, “blow molding”, etc. etc?… the people who actually use the tech are techies, they can come up with spiffy marketing names for their own products like Mixee Me or Myrobots

          1. William Mougayar

            Object machine

          2. wiwa

            materialize is a pretty good verb for it, thats used by a major Shapeways competitorfreeform fabrication is another term bandied about by insidersunfortunately “manufacturing” is not a happy feel good product that can be branded, and 3D printing/FFF/A.M. is just another manufacturing process… people that do it for a hobby call themselves “makers” and they have “makerbots” (or ultimakers etc.) but “making” is not exclusive to “3d printing”… and “3d” printing is not exclusive to “makers”… big industry players use it already and before long consumer products will be made unique & customizable under their own brand names making use of the new manufacturing process

    2. Dave W Baldwin

      I’ve thought about this too. Haven’t a clue what else to call it. I guess have the faith as it is discussed more and the first round of printers with a lower price point come into public notice, the term 3D will be understood.

    3. ShanaC

      so what would you call it “custom object creation?” (that sounds worse to my ears

  8. Luke Chamberlin

    Great stuff but their web site could use a little work in my opinion.My frustrating experience as an example: On the front page, I see this cool 3D pixel art Steve Jobs head (see attached pic). That’s super dorky but also very cool. So I click on the Steve Jobs head.This takes me to the featured page (http://www.shapeways.com/ga… ) which is a grid of 30 products in 10 categories… none of which is the Steve Jobs head. I have the option to explore deeper into each category, but which category would the Steve Jobs head be under?I try the first category, art. This takes me to the art category page, which is a grid of 12 products with pagination at the bottom. None of the first 12 are the Steve Jobs head, so I click the “next” button. No Steve Jobs here hear either.So I hit the back button twice and try a different category. Maybe it’s “For Your Home”? I look through the first three pages (36 products) but it’s not there either.So maybe I’ll just search for “Steve Jobs head”. That works, it’s the first search result. Turn out I should have been looking in the “Sculptures” category, which *wasn’t even an option from the featured page*.Quick fix: when you are featuring a product, clicking on that product should always take you directly to the details page where you can purchase that product.

    1. Brad Dickason

      Thanks for the feedback, Luke! We’ve been trying to learn what types of products people are interested in. As you can imagine, it’s quite tough to decide which 30-or-so products to feature to anyone based on our ‘infinite tail’ (as we call it :P)We definitely feel the pain of clicking on something and not seeing the product you’re expecting on the next page. This should be fixed soon, and I like your framework.Categorization of 3d Printed Stuff has been a real challenge. As you said, Steve Jobs’ head could be featured under Art, Desk Toys, Nerdy Stuff, Sculptures (as it is a bust), etc. We are still trying to figure out the right categories (or tags), and how to encourage our designers/shop owners to place their objects in intuitively discoverable categories as well :)Thanks for taking a minute to post some feedback!

      1. Luke Chamberlin

        Thanks for writing back Brad.Having worked on large and general interest taxonomies, I know that they can be a real challenge. There was a great post on AVC a few weeks back that has some good thoughts on discover/explore/browse frameworks (maybe you already saw it) http://www.avc.com/a_vc/201…But you also have the additional challenge of balancing a maker-facing site with a consumer-facing site (and sometimes this is the same person).Sounds like fun work! Interested to see what you come up with.

  9. kidmercury

    i been thinking about starting Second Amendment Saturday (SAS) here on AVC, since silicon valley has made this the one non-technology issue they’d like to be involved in, in spite of declining gun crimes in the land of the free (aka the land of the incarcerated). as we’ve discussed 3D printing technology will be the way guns and lots of other stuff are manufactured in the future. as such they will need to be regulated.here’s a good article from the WSJ on this issue yesterday: http://online.wsj.com/artic…after reading that article, it’s clear that individuals will have every intent to create high capacity magazines using 3D printers, in spite of proposed legislation/executive orders to ban the manufacturing of such technology (not just distribution, but manufacturing).techcrunch’s john biggs believes 3D printers will be regulated as a result: http://techcrunch.com/2013/…a noteworthy issue here is civil disobedience.– over 90 sheriffs have said they they will not enforce gun control legislation/executive orders– virginia is getting close to passing laws at the state level saying they will not enforce obama’s gun control commands– el paso county in colorado won’t enforce state or federal gun control lawswith this type of relentless vigilance towards defending the 2nd amendment, regulating 3D printing at the printer level may be the only recourse for those who oppose the 2nd amendment.alternatively maybe it is time to back off the war against the 2nd amendment. attacking this issue awakens the spirit of liberty in many people. perhaps it is not the wisest of ideas to attack this spirit.

    1. fredwilson

      the second amendment needs to be amended. some guns should be legal. most should not. and they should be highly regulated. that’s my SAS.

      1. James Ferguson @kWIQly

        Any argument that good should not be attempted, because it will be resisted is pretty transparent. The argument that in an ideal world it would not be necessary is mute until things improve.Limiting the speed on highways is tough to enforce, but valuable – All you need to do is find a way to monetize enforcement efforts.Where there is a will – there will be a way !

        1. kidmercury

          enforcement efforts are monetized, which is why the US has the highest incarceration rates in the world — the rate went up significantly as private prisons become more common.

          1. James Ferguson @kWIQly

            I completely accept the facts you refer to. (maybe only approximately highest)This suggests that either :a) More criminals are being incarcerated for longer.orb) Innocent people are being incarcerated.if a) and sentencing is not appropriate then Good is not being done.if a) and sentencing is appropriate then Good is being done, and this is not an argumentif(b) then Good is not being done.So this is not an argument that good should not be attempted.For the record I think it suggests the US criminal system is a melting pot of corrupt insanity. You can “buy” a good defence.An argument that guns should not be carried by psychopaths is however an argument for the good – IMHOSo your observations are not relevant- I stand by my statement that enforcement of valuable laws serves the greater good and should not be blocked.

          2. kidmercury

            who determines who is a psychopath? anyway, the anti-2nd amendment crowd is about eliminating more than gun ownership from those who are “psychopaths”; it is about banning over 150 types of guns from all people (except law enforcement and military, that is).

      2. andyswan

        My 2nd favorite video of the week: http://www.youtube.com/watc…Will Mr. Bloomberg give up being protected by guns, or just require it of the proles?

        1. fredwilson

          we should not take guns away from our police officers

          1. kidmercury

            lol of course not! after all, they’re the ones who are innocent and protect us! just like politicians!

          2. andyswan

            Leaving this govt/citizen balance and “trust of cops” conversation for another day.Will only add that a vast majority of guns ARE already illegal, and therefore not produced for civilian sale. We own several….they’re really cool!

        2. kidmercury

          great video andy! thank you for sharing here on SAS!

        3. LE

          I think the journalist there is retarded special needs. I hate things like this. I find them painful to watch actually.It’s clear why Bloomberg has security guards and I will also add that those guards are highly trained with weapons.This is not an example of “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander” (or “gandah” as NYer would say).[I think it’s stupid that Prince Harry fights in wars for that matter. What’s that something that harkens back to the middle ages with knights needing to be strong or something like that? Or some “he’s just like the people” thing. (Would love the British perspective on this btw.)]Why in the world if you have privilege can’t people understand that you are different and do get better treatment. (ans: they are stupid that’s why.)As far as the security accosting the “Journalist” they absolutely did the right thing. They are there to protect someone and make a judgement regarding potential threats. Not the peanut gallery who doesn’t have to clean up the mess (or brain chunks I hope I have everyones attention now). If you come to my door during the day I won’t let you in the door unless I know who you are. If you are the UPS guy you better drive up in the UPS truck that I can see and be in a uniform and act like a UPS driver.Bloomberg has a tradeoff between needing to appear open and protecting himself and not being in a bubble. Otherwise he will end up like Kennedy except he’s not as attractive so people won’t obsess for 50 years over his death and support all his heirs and family.As I like to say “evil doesn’t come looking like evil”. It would be fairly easy for an assailant to get a shot in at Bloomberg by pretending to be a journalist or even a little old lady. (I mean who the fuck is Jason Mattera?) The journalist was just being an annoying immature idiot.As a side story my ex wife was abducted in college by a guy who approached her in a hallway asking for help with his car I think he needed a jump start. I’ll skip the details but he got iirc 7 years in prison for whatever he did during that abduction. (He had a gun btw.) Although I never asked her I assume he was normal enough looking and in fact he might have actually been good looking for all I know (otherwise why would she have so easily gone with him which she did?) Evil doesn’t always look like evil. I’m sure he didn’t look like a creep.

          1. ShanaC

            Actually, in the case of harry, why not? He’s 3.5 (about to be 4th) in line for a crown. His grandmother is in pretty good shape. It is super unlikely anything will happen to him. He enjoys being in the military, so why not?

          2. LE

            “It is super unlikely anything will happen to him. He enjoys being in the military,”Focus on the downside not the upside.Fact that he likes it doesn’t matter. Helis by the way are dangerous and no trivial risk with that and he does do “missions”. This is not some desk job or anything.By the way there are plenty of kids who played football in high school and liked it. I had to choose a sport and choose football (was a private school with a crappy team) and I did anything I could to “not get picked”. I remember one time that I was practically getting jumped on by like 5 guys. But I never played and I never got hurt. How lucky is that? (See I made my own luck.) Unlike some who played and are now my age (or younger) and suffering the physical consequences of playing football. Find something else to have fun with that doesn’t give you a lifelong injury.

        4. PhilipSugar

          What is most bothering to me is how they try to collect (and did collect) data on somebody that was non threatening and asking questions.We always said how bad would it be if you had to produce papers to travel like you did in Germany or in the Soviet Union? So if you ask Mayor Bloomberg a question he doesn’t like his thugs want to put you in a database. And understand those five are thugs and the smart guys are behind the reporter.If you are liberal or conservative be afraid for what you get. Remember when conservatives wanted the Patriot Act??? I said wait till the glove is on the other hand. Did Obama repeal??? Nope.

        5. JLM

          .You did notice that the “journalist” was armed with a BIG GULP, right?The Mayor was afraid of drowning. Fair play to him.JLM.

        6. Jim Ritchie

          That video is priceless, Bloomberg is a major hypocrite, but typical of the elite who think they “know better”.

      3. kidmercury

        the amendment already is regulated, as we have discussed repeatedly try getting a gun in nyc or chicago, and many guns already are banned. but that’s fine. in many ways i’m glad you guys have stepped into the fray. i haven’t seen the american spirit of liberty this awake since you did. it’s been a powerful catalyst. thank you.

        1. ShanaC

          but try getting a gun in indiana and take the train in with your new gun?

          1. kidmercury

            what if someone takes a private plane in from china? a boat from africa?it is up to each specific jurisdiction to make sure guns don’t get in. if nyc doesn’t want guns to get in, they should barricade themselves and put checkpoints everywhere in their confines, instead of seeking to violate the 2nd amendment and impose their desires on 300+ million people.

          2. ShanaC

            It is really cheap to get to Gary from Chicago (I knew of people who did it all the time. I have a friend in Chicago who goes back to his parents in S. bend regularly. It is a trainride away). And indiana has much laxer gun laws. Getting a gun from africa is a lot more expensive. So automatically the amount of guns would go down.Same thing with CT vs NY. How long do you think it takes to cross state lines? An hour, not even. I know people who do that as a commute every day!

          3. kidmercury

            time is irrelvant. the point is the burden of enforcement should be on the jurisdiction that wants the law. what you are saying is like i should have the right to go to nice restaurants but you should pay for it. if you don’t want guns in your city, than your city should make sure guns don’t get in. create a wall, barricade yourself in, create checkpoints, and pay for it all yourself. it’s that simple.

          4. JLM

            .It is the job of the individual states to coordinate gun control with adjoining states.In the last 10 years it has become legally possible to bring a gun — subject to concealed handgun carry laws — from Texas to South Carolina and to be legal through all the states involved in that journey.Via reciprocity amongst the individual licensing entities.JLM.

      4. Jack Dawson

        When you’re done fiddling with the 2nd amendment, which one will you go after next? The 1st or the 4th?

        1. fredwilson

          i am not fiddling with it myself. just outlining what fiddling i support. i would like to amend the fourth amendment to state that it applies to all online activities as well

          1. andyswan

            I just wish we could get back to enforcing the 10th!

        2. Dave Pinsen

          Would be nice to have the 14th Amendment clarified. I doubt its drafters envisioned birth tourism.

        3. JamesHRH

          You would think some fiddling would be in order, 230+ years down the road.

      5. Fred Hutchison

        You’ll change the 2nd when you pry it from the cold dead hands of the ~5 million NRA members. (That is to say never, FWIW.)

        1. kidmercury

          that’s exactly right. gun sales are soaring this year. i think the anti-2nd amendment crowd vastly underestimated what they got themselves into, and they don’t have the passion to compete here; a little newspaper ad isn’t going to cut it. all they’re doing is re-awakening/strengthening the support for the 2nd amendment.

          1. JLM

            .Highest gun ownership in the history of Texas and the lowest per capita murder rate. Huh? Yep.It would be very difficult to suggest that any criminals in Texas might think they can undertake a gun crime and not expect armed opposition.Funny thing about guns is that they also require an element of skill.The mere presence of a gun does not automatically disadvantage a victim if they also have a gun and a bit of skill.Most people are not very good at shooting pistols and even worse when their heart is pounding and the adrenalin is flowing.A trained gun carrier knows to control their breathing, to take a deep breath and to deliver a double tap center of mass.In a difficult situation we only have reason, persuasion or force to resolve an unwanted confrontation.Once reason and persuasion are evaporated, then you are left with force.Once you have degenerated to force alone, then if you limit who can have a gun — you favor the aggressor. That is not right.Here are my thoughts on gun control:http://themusingsofthebigre…This is Fred’s fault, he finally shamed me into writing a blog. Well, actually it is written by my car..

          2. JamesHRH

            Aren’t there studies that show that most people who carry a gun have never fired it, anywhere?Isn’t also a common knowledge (I have absolutely no empirical backup) that most victims who were carrying a gun do not use it & then have it used against them?

          3. JLM

            .I really cannot speak with any authority to either of your questions.I suspect most everyone who has authority to carry a weapon has had to demonstrate prowess as part of the licensing process.As to the second, I suspect it is not correct.In Texas, you have to remember that in rural Texas a rifle or pistol may simply be a tool of one’s trade.Everyone who has served in the military or law enforcement has likely been trained in weapons safety.The NRA has a terrific gun safety and marksmanship course. It is very good and taught by folks who know what they are doing.JLM.

      6. JLM

        .The first thing that we need to calmly and rationally undertake is the identification of all persons who should not be allowed to touch a gun. Every one of the recent assailants would have been on that list.This nexus — guns & crazy people — can be controlled if we can identify the crazy folks and segregate them from the guns.Break this link in the chain of events and you change the outcomes.Once we have done that, we can have a rational discussion as to whether a certain type of gun is safe in the hands of an otherwise not crazy person — used to be called “normal”.I am safe up and through light anti-tank weapons and still quite dodgey with mortars and howitzers. Indirect fire seems to bring out the demons in me. I cannot be trusted with a battery of 8″ guns — just too much power, I guess.So one would reasonably expect my entry in the database to say something like: “Cannot be authorized to own or operate 4.2 mortars or large caliber indirect fire howitzers particularly the 8” gun.”I would take no offense knowing it to be the truth.Normal folks and guns are not the problem. Long rifles are used in less than 3% of all gun crime. Long rifles are not the problem.In states like Texas where gun ownership is at an all time HIGH, the per capita murder rate is also at an all time LOW. So total guns is not the problem.We already have a lot of gun laws on the books — NY Sullivan Act dates from 1913? IT IS 100 YEARS OLD.The Sullivan Act already does almost everything that the President has proposed. Enforce it.We need to step up Federal law enforcement and state law enforcement as objectively measured by the number of actual prosecutions and convictions.Murder is a felony. The solution is not to criminalize the behavior before the commission of another felon — the killers have already indicated they do not intend to obey the law.No wisdom is conveyed in the second kick of any mule, so let’s not count on a second law to buttress the first one when we already know the first one is not playing trump. Deal with the cards as they really are.The controllable nexus in the criminal process is the crazy – gun nexus.JLM.

      7. Jim Ritchie

        What most people forget, or don’t even realize, is that the 2nd Amendment does not actually grant our rights to “keep and bare arms”. It only clarifies that this “natural right’ exists, with or without the 2nd amendment.Natural rights are rights not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of any particular culture or government, and therefore universal and inalienable.

    2. LE

      ” it’s clear that individuals will have every intent to create high capacity magazines using 3D printers”I don’t see this as much of an issue. There is creation and there is distribution and then usage by the nut or criminal who wants to do harm. (Do the probabilities of those events coming together.)The fact that high capacity magazines are created is only a problem if they end up in the wrong hands. And it’s not the same as “the wrong hands” with counterfeit money either (in that case there are tons of “wrong hands” not so with ammo). If some guy buys the ammo on the black market and uses it himself at a gun range then it’s a tree in the forrest kind of thing to me. The only thing that matters is if it gets into the wrong hands. And even now with existing firearms to me that simply isn’t an issue. So I don’t see it as more of an issue if there is the ability to mfg. the magazines. You can do that now with used machine shop equipment if you have the knowledge.Nobody is going to setup a factory to manufacture ammunition to sell it on the black market on any scale that will matter. Who is the market for that? The drug trade? Lone psychos? Criminals can already get hands on the stuff if they want. And same with counterfeit money there are ingredients that go into making and maintaining all this equipment. It would be fairly easy to track down who is buying the equipment at least if they are doing it on a scale to do harm (follow the materials).That said if people want to cover absolutely all bases and reduce risk to zero because all the sudden gun violence is a hot button issue then go right ahead and worry about that kind of thing.

      1. ShanaC

        actually with currency, it is a larger issues. Currency is effectively an idea. Counterfeit currency means you don’t control that idea anymore – so why should anyone trust you about your opinion of that idea (in terms of the government).

      2. James Ferguson @kWIQly

        Loaded guns are dangerous period. You cannot reliably control who holds them or the intentions of those that do.To suggest otherwise flies in the face of common sense.Any armed defense to the above very simple argument is self-defeating.

        1. JLM

          .A loaded gun in the possession of an experienced and well trained marksman is no more lethal than a Lexus SUV with a half full tank of gas in the Sam’s Club parking lot.Every marksman should be trained to remove the magazine, clear the chamber, inspect the barrel and put the weapon on “safe” every time they touch a weapon.This is basic gun safety training.This type of training is no different than checking to see that you are “clear” when backing up that Lexus SUV.One has more real danger from the 48 pack of hot dogs and buns you just bought at Sams Club.JLM.

          1. James Ferguson @kWIQly

            JLMI agree with every statement you make however, you do not address my comment:”You cannot reliably control who holds them or the intentions of those that do.”Until intent and mental stability can be reliably be policed (and I would not wish to be in a world where it could) people are safer when distant from someone with a loaded weapon.If to promote the general safety of children we must deprive the freedom of adults (in some small way) I am all for it.You may disagree, but I do not believe you can justifiy that disagreement.That there are other dangers in life are clear – but that does not justify unwarranted danger.

    3. LE

      By the way infographics like this (this isn’t a jab at you by the way) are absolutely meaningless to me.I mean who cares what happens in other countries and why are we ranking non-homogenous situations anyway?How about an infographic comparing incarceration in a rich zip code (or drug use) with one from a poor zip code? This is just people’s obsession with not wanting to take the time to understand an issue and have a quick easy way to feel informed before coming up with the wrong knee jerk solution to a problem that very well might be non-existant. The devil is in the details and infographics don’t contain all the details.

      1. kidmercury

        who cares about other zip codes? why not just care about your own zip code? your own home? yourself?everything is related and connected, understanding external behavior and relative contexts can help us understand ourselves better.stats can be sliced many ways, but with regards to prison, the data is clear that US prison population has skyrocketed. i interpret the causes as the privatization of prisons and rising poverty rates/income inequality due primarily to monetary policy.

        1. LE

          “rising poverty rates/income inequality”While that certainly exists surely you have visited some of these poor neighborhoods and you see what’s there haven’t you?I’ve also heard anecdotal that there are young girls who get knocked up at 14 and having a baby in high school (with no father) is some kind of badge of honor. Would like to point out that unlike having actually seen the poor neighborhoods firsthand, I don’t have firsthand experience with the 2nd case but only relating from a reliable source.I’m curious of how much of this exists in, say, Iceland or even Canada?

          1. ShanaC

            that means you need a cultural change

          2. kidmercury

            a reasonable standard of living solves a lot of problems. iceland has very low poverty. big canadian cities like vancouver or toronto bear many similarities to big cities everywhere. canada’s monetary policy is also far more sound than the US.

          3. ShanaC

            canada also is a fiat currency 🙂

          4. kidmercury

            compare the external debt/GDP ratio, as well as deficits. notice the absence of asset bubbles that transfer wealth via inflation. also, i have never said fiat currencies are universally bad, or without a role.

        2. JLM

          .I am very loyal to my zip code..

    4. ShanaC

      if we want less incarceration it would actually be better to enforce gun laws (as opposed to drug laws)

      1. kidmercury

        there are plenty of gun laws already and they are already being enforced. get a gun and go around firing it in new york city and watch what happens.

        1. PhilipSugar

          This famous guy who said crime went down because of gaming and the internet: http://www.petersheahan.com…Was so bummed when he gave a keynote and I showed him it went down because incarceration rates went up. He literally was crestfallen when I showed him the stats I showed Shana.

      2. Dave Pinsen

        How would you get less incarceration by enforcing more laws? More enforcement means more convictions, which means more jail time for more law-breakers.We can debate the merits of drug laws, but it’s a good bet that a lot of folks convicted for drug (or illegal gun) possession have also committed other crimes. You see a lot of drug convictions because those don’t require witnesses, so they are easier to prosecute in neighborhoods where a “no snitching” ethos makes it difficult to find cooperative witnesses.

      3. pointsnfigures

        or legalize drugs and let the individuals live with the consequences of using/abusing them.

      4. PhilipSugar

        Here is the secret that people don’t want to hear: Look at the incarceration rate in the U.S. and the crime rate in the U..S. http://en.wikipedia.org/wikhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wik…Hmmmm…..they correlate. Why do you think? Keeping people that commit crimes locked up longer means they commit fewer crimes?

      1. kidmercury

        good for the president, though i’m only concerned with legislation, executive orders, etc. personally i find planned photos to be of little interest, and classify them as propaganda.

      2. JLM

        .Very nice shotgun. Nicely taken pic. Can you imagine how tough it was to get this pic with the smoke just so?Bit gentler grasp required with right hand, just cradle the gun. Let it lay in your hand and don’t choke it. No tension from the right hand.Use both eyes when shooting. Yellow or gray shooting glasses. Never so dark.Get that shotgun butt down and into your shoulder. Too high and unsettled. The shotgun butt starts out in the correct position and then you just swing the gun.Lighten up on the cheek weld, you are not firing a deer rifle.Swing the gun, don’t aim. Shoot natural.WTF are you shooting at so low. That is not a skeet pattern. Skeet are high and away.Overall a very nice picture of a guy “doing” skeet shooting.This guy will NOT take your guns in violation of the 2nd Amendment. Right? Right?JLM.

        1. joeagliozzo

          could be coming from the low house –

          1. JLM

            .Too high for the low.Too low for the high.That stock position is troubling me. The first thing is to get the stock where it is supposed to be and then swing the gun.I want an invite to shoot at Camp David. I will show him how to shoot.JLM.

      3. JLM

        .The President prefers to refer to it as “doing” skeet shooting. Please respect his wishes.JLM.

        1. pointsnfigures

          weird positioning of the shotgun. I notice, it’s a semi-auto. Must have been “doing” sporting clays and not skeet.

          1. joeagliozzo

            browning over/under – not semi-auto

    5. pointsnfigures

      If we are serious, and are going to use schools as a platform for gun control-maybe we ought to look at a worse problem in our schools. Sexual abuse of children. http://sesamenet.org/resear… Why does every problem that crops up have to become an agenda?

    6. PhilipSugar

      Has anybody else noted the concerted press effort on “smart” guns.Talk about technology searching for a problem. It makes me laugh to think that people that buy guns would ever want one. They only could have been conceived by those that want to confiscate guns.I love the stone simplicity of my 357 or the engineering prowess of my Sig. I certainly do not want to rely on any technology that would disable it. People that want super reliable guns like Sig’s or S&W realize they have no safety (and that would be mechanical) for a reason. When you need to use it you need to use it.

      1. kidmercury

        agreed…..i don’t see the gun owners in america falling for that one, especially since they’ve gotten more vigilant over the past 6 weeks.

  10. James Ferguson @kWIQly

    For intuitive learning which of the following is easier to understand ?A ) A contour map of a landscape orB) A physical model of the same landscape (ideally coloured at contour levels).It is no surprise that surgeons get trained with physical models (which are very expensive)Thus a realm that fascinates me opens up… Objects as a communication tool.We visualize business intelligence achieved through pattern recognition. It happens to be in the energy savings domain but is all about interpreting n-dimensional surfaces.Results of an analysis can very often be represented by a static 3D surface (eg energy saving potential by time of day and outside temperature ) but the visualization is rendered as a graphic on a 2-d screen or report. The value (which can be very significant) derives from interpretation of the surface (which can be complex).I know I could present energy savings opportunity better if I could hand a physical representation to a client. If this is true for me – how much more must this be true for the energy consultants who use our visualizations but are generally less specialized than we are.So I would be interested in a model ordering and shipping API for rendering a physical shipping of something like the image attached (deliberately simple example).It could completely abstract a value added up-sale and could be embedded in reports etc ( download your physical version !) .For us this would have significant attraction regarding network effects – because energy managers talking about what they are learning is a major goal.

  11. jason wright

    is disqus eating posts again?

    1. William Mougayar

      what makes you say that? did you post a comment that didn’t show up? i don’t see you in spam as a false positive.

      1. jason wright

        one has gone astray william

        1. ShanaC

          we’ve been having problems…happy comments are being eaten, spam is getting through, the Algorithm might be going through some tuning for all I know

        2. William Mougayar

          don’t you hate when you can’t be brilliant twice in a row even minutes apart.we all have temporary moments of clarity 🙂

          1. jason wright

            the ghost in the machine

    2. Luke Chamberlin

      I had a giant post I wrote this morning disappear for about 4 hours only to reappear again.

      1. jason wright

        a post worth reading is a post to first copy, paste, and save.i’ve never done that.

  12. Fred Hutchison

    This is absolutely changing the model railroad hobby. Create something in 1:1 scale and then change it — on demand — to meet the needs of everyone from the itty-bitty (Z) modeler to the extra large (F) guy. Amazing (and fun to boot)!

    1. Brad Dickason

      Yes! Model trains are a huge category on Shapeways. We have a material called Frosted Ultra Detail that is great for super-high resolution models, and can be painted quite nicely.http://www.shapeways.com/ga

      1. Fred Hutchison

        Yeah, I’m working on a few things for myself (using Sketchup) and I think that there will be some interest in folks from various scales. It’s even possible to create a WHOLE NEW scale, such as 1/32 narrow gauge which could run on O guage track.

        1. ShanaC

          I didn’t know you were such a model train buff

          1. pointsnfigures

            great idea. I have an old Lionel train and don’t know what the heck to do with it. Got it when I was a very very young tike.

        2. Brad Dickason

          Very cool, Fred! Would love to see how it turns out 🙂

  13. Ian Cappa

    I saw this before Shapeways, I knew that it would be big, and it will be in the years to come. The only issue for me is that I am from Croatia, people did not understand the idea, I could not get funding, pivoted and now got my seed investment. Shame. Fred, remember, the issue with Squee was it could not be scalable. I see and understand something now that others don’t and won’t understand in the next few years…

  14. pointsnfigures

    and already, a distributor ready to get you materials so you can be on your 3D printing way. https://www.inventables.com/

  15. Wavelengths

    Yahoo News tonight, one of the most interesting uses of 3-D printing I’ve seen:http://news.yahoo.com/3d-pr

  16. jason wright

    Key Lime Pie?

  17. jason wright

    the future of shopping in the age of 3dp? nauseatingly sycophantic levels of customer service. my ego can’t wait.

  18. bernardlunn

    Thought i was joining a convo about 3D printing, but instead I stumbled onto a political blog

  19. William Mougayar

    Here’s a great example of 3D printing used for stem cells & it could help to eliminate organ donors. http://mg.co.za/article/201

  20. fredwilson

    i haven’t thought much about the IP impact of 3D printing. i bet Peter has though.

  21. weijmarshausen

    It’s indeed a good question. I think we can learn a lot from software and software licenses. I like both GPL and BSD style licenses.The first means you can use and modify to your own liking, but if you sell or make commercial you need to share or make available your mods.The second means do whatever you want with it, but it’s my copyright. So people can use re-use, sell etc, but NOT change the copyright.Also strict copyrights are ok, but they clearly do not help if you want to take & reshape. For remix (take existing products and change/reshape) the GPL and BSD style licenses seem to work well.best,Pete

  22. Guest

    test

  23. jason wright

    who’s Jerry?