Replicator

If you have ever watched any of the Star Trek episodes, I believe you will be able to relate to what I want to talk about today.  The topic for conversation today is the replicator.  I remember watching as one of the members of the Star Trek crew would want something and simply enter a code on this piece of equipment and whatever they wanted appeared, as if by magic.  At the time, I believed this happened simply out of the clear blue, but as I have done a bit of research, the replicator was loosely based upon transporter technology, "storing" raw materials in a digital format for later use to form the items the crew wanted and needed.  Well, I think that the time of the replicator is at hand.

I have watched the world of 3-D printing for the last three years or so, waiting for the time that these printers cross the point where they could be afforded by the individual.  I think it is close.  Now, for a couple of thousand dollars you can own a 3-D printer.  I remember buying the first home laser printer for about seven hundred dollars and thought that was expensive at the time.  Maybe in another year or so, 3-D technology will finally be to that point and I will consider it affordable.  It is interesting to begin watching all of the infrastructure come on line to support this new technology.  In the last month I have seen libraries of 3-D renderings released to the Internet. UPS has announced they intend to have printers in all of their store front locations.  This is all amazing, but let me tell you the story that put me over the edge.  I was at a Product Show in Omaha last week.  We were there to talk about the things that we do - fasteners and hydraulic fittings.  The show was slow, as the weather was nice and it seemed that people had made different decisions with what they wanted to do with their day.  In the middle of all of this, gentleman who was older (older than me), come up and start talking to us.  Then he showed us what he was doing.  He had run a fix-it shop for many years, and now he'd purchased a 3-D printer to see what kind of business he could create with that - a true entrepreneur.

When I lived in Lees Summit, an acquaintance whose business was making signs for trucks made a nice living and was very happy with what he was doing.  Then one day, a salesman came in selling water-jet cutting machines - computer controlled machines that use a tremendously high pressure jet of water and abrasive to cut anything from paper to steel.  Tim was not doing anything like this at the time, but he saw the opportunity to build an entirely new business around this technology, and was not afraid to take the risk. He spent the money to try a new venture.  Tim has gone on to build a very prosperous business around the technology, doing work for many in the area and for some of the largest contractors of high tech equipment in the country.  Good for him.

These new technologies will continue to present themselves, and those who are willing to do what Tim did - to go ahead and 'pull the trigger' on a new venture even if they are unsure that it will work - will succeed.  Maybe not all of the time, but they will have more wins than failures.  This has to be the challenge and the marching orders for all of us.  I used to look at my grandfather and know that he had a tremendous sense for the new ideas that were going to take off.  I remember thinking that if he would just jump on one of his ideas it would be amazing what he could accomplish.  I have fallen into that trap before, and we all have to break out of it now.  When we see something that we know is the next good idea, we have to have the courage of our convictions and go for it.  We will not always be successful, but we will certainly be more successful than by doing nothing.  So, maybe not 3-D printing, but the time is now to get my Etsy website up and selling something.  Look for me out there.  It is time to make something happen.

And at the same time, I am going to continue to find all that I can find about emerging technologies to try to decide what the next big thing will be.  And when I do, I will probably talk about it here, so you should stay tuned.  Think about the things that we talk about here and decide which one is right for you.  Keep looking to the stars, think about the next big thing, and then talk about it.  If it is not the perfect idea for you, it may be for one of the group that you call your friends, and that is pretty cool too.

Keep looking.