3D printing

I got very very excited recently when I stumbled across Makerbot's Thing-o-matic which is, wait for it...... a 3D printer. Strangely no-one that I have shared this news with has been as thrilled by this new technology as me. One friend said "So, what? You pay $1000 for something that can make plastic ornaments. I don't get it, why would you want one?" Becauuuuuse you can print them yourself, because its not about making ornaments - it has a thousand creative possibilities, because this is the most radical piece of creative technology I've seen, because it's so brilliantly genius that a person could invent a machine that can take a jumble of 0's and 1's and make a real physical object. Imagine the thought process to get there - I stand in awe.

Another friend who I was certain would show at least more than a mild interest, had already heard about the technology and then he told me something which completely blew my mind out the top of my head and onto the ceiling - medical researchers are using 3D printing technology to create organs made from your own cells. 

I gave you a long pause there, so you could take a moment to fully absorb this information. Imagine the future possibilities, you could create a new liver on your computer, pop it on a memory stick, wonder across the street to Officeworks and say "I'd like to print this file, my other liver got used up. Also is it cheaper if I get more than one, cause I seem to go through livers quite quickly. Great I'll be back in half an hour."And then you could go off to the pub.