Remember the dot matrix printers? Ugh, talk about poor resolution. I've been keeping up with this guy's blog (
http://goo.gl/DqbLQ) documenting his attempt to bring an inexpensive stereolithography printer to the masses. It's like an arms race to see who can produce the best and cheapest 3D printer into the average person's home. This is such an exciting time to be a creative (n.).
Yes, manufacturing will return to the US, but it will be very different than today's factories, eh? You won't need to have large capacity factories that take up acres of land; instead, things will truly be print-on-demand, and will be localized to cut the cost of transportation.
Better yet, if they can utilize recycling of materials directly / indirectly into future generations of 3D printers, such that we get very close to zero waste, and the life cycle of products becomes a complete loop.
