Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing

Preface

One of the great things about 3D printing is that the field moves faster than the speed of light and technological advances take place in huge leaps and bounds. Yet, rapid innovation is a difficult topic to capture. Just as you figure out how to pin down an elusive and squirming new idea onto paper, it’s already out of date. Everybody has moved on.

We wrote this book over nine feverish months, constantly seeking a broader perspective by speaking with experts we already knew and obsessively combing the web and twittersphere for new information and people to talk with. We chose not to write a simple “here’s how to use a 3D printer” since such a book would be obsolete in just a few months. Instead, since the technology changes faster than a book can be produced, we dug below the surface and chose to explore the deeper implications of 3D printing technologies, how this new capacity for production will change our lives, our laws and our economy.

Writing a book with two authors is both a blessing and a curse. There’s nothing like having a fellow traveler in the grueling and solitary writing process. No one else in the world is as eagerly willing to discuss and dissect arcane ideas for hours at a time. But having two authors presents a challenge: How do you manage two narrative voices?

Should two authors consolidate their individual experiences and insights into a collective “we?” Or should two authors differentiate each individual thought and experience by the name of the individual ...