Tom Rikert of a16z predicts the rise of co-located manufacturing clusters combining software, printing, and logistics companies for artisanal and short-run physical production.
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Reichert: Long-term advances in on-demand 3D printing will disrupt FedEx and UPS
“Yeah, I think if you look at the long, long term, I actually would be short on FedEx and UPS. You know, like, rather than having to ship things around the world on airplanes, it wouldn't be great just to download the design and print it out, you know, right wh…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Reichert: Personalized manufacturing will move from hobbyists into mainstream products
“Ultimately this could become not just kind of a cottage industry, but it, it's the way I think mainstream products are going. I mean, you look at products that Nike offers where you can personalize all sorts of aspects of your shoe. It's not three printed per …”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Reichert: The core 3D printing workflow will evolve into 'rip, mod, fab'
“So I think in three D printing now, it's going to be like kind of rip, Mod fab, right? You know, like how do you scan in a design or take a design that's already there? How do you modify it? And then how do you fabricate it?”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Reichert: Software-driven parallel printer clusters will enable printing large complex parts
“It may be the case that you'll have a cluster of three D printers and you'll have software that farms out the, you know, big complex part into many printers and they'll all work in parallel and kind of proceed to output pieces and they'll be reassembled. So th…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Reichert: 3D printing is shifting from plastic trinkets to functional objects
“Today, we've often focused on printing objects with form mostly plastic trinkets, and now it's starting to be printing objects with function, right?”
Insight
Reichert: Governments Cannot Abandon Tech Laggards Like Private Corporations Do
“And unlike a corporation, you can't fire those as customers, right? You know, the people are still on Windows XP. You know, they want to upgrade, and Microsoft eventually says, you know what? You can't upgrade anymore. You got to move on. You can't do that if …”