Today you can create your own product at the comfort of your home with a very small monetary investment and make a considerable amount of profit from selling your product to a world audience online.
The technological advances with computers and internet connections allowed designers to become internet entrepreneurs, creating and selling designs and products world-wide very easily and developing multiple and sustainable income streams which lead Designers to a new level where each designer can be a business.
Victor Margolin, in it’s text from 2002, argues with the current preparation of the teaching systems where students are taught history, craft and serve manufactures instead of preparing them to be entrepreneurs, acknowledge important areas such as management and marketing, creating and distributing their own products.
Earlier in 2010 I participated at Shift Conf where I had the change to meet the RepRap Project, a desktop 3D Printer that you can build at your own home and print real 3D objects in just one take using your own computer. The following video will show you some of the things you are able to create with a RepRap.
The purpose of the RepRap project is allowing people to manufacture small objects for their own personal use helping them save money or even creating new objects for everyday use. It’s a really amazing project that you can download the assembly instructions from the web and build the 3D printer for less than 300 euros. In 2010 professional 3D printer renting can easily go over 10 000 euros.
The project is still under development from it’s open source community. I personally believe that 3D printers will be available for any person in the next 5 years at a very affordable price.
Victor Margolin understood, back in 2002, that we need to create and sell our own products and not just work for the manufacturers. In 2010 this is now becoming a need rather than a privilege and you need to take action, so what are you waiting for?
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