Choose a 21st century technology and write a brief (2 pages) on which technologies from previous decades influenced its creation. How could it influence new technologies we have not heard of in the future?

I chose a 3-D printer. It is most defiantly a newer technology and it’s influence will lead greatly into the future as well as being able to follow it into the past. Starting from the beginning, we can say that it began with the basic writing systems which eventually evolved into punch cuts and block cuts to make the writing process faster as a demand for books grew. These systems led to the first printing press which in turn skyrocketed printed material into the spotlight. Much hasn’t change between the printing press and the first mechanical printer. Slightly before the 21st century things appeared to diverge two separate ways. The first being those who used printers for business/work but still helped make better and newer technologies. The second group, which could be artists, used printers to produce their art. In a way both groups merged and out comes the first 3d printer in its most basic design. Those with the business side of things thought of mass manufacturing and the ease and cheapness of materials. Artists looked at the new creativity and media they now had as well as a new way to showcase their art to the masses. 

Today 3-D printers are being used for so much more than art and will possibly help build a more mechanical mass produced future. As I write, scientists and engineers are trying to find ways for a printer to create organs and tissue for patients that are in need so they do not have to be on a waiting list for years waiting on an organ transplant or skin graft. Instead those waiting can have one readily made for them that will no require a life long regimen of immuno-suppressant drugs. Another point is that it can produce food which we already have. Some 3-D printers can but it can take a couple of hours for a finished product, like a pizza, to be put together. A man also recently build a printer large enough to build a house using a special type of concrete he made for the process. 

With all these great steps forward there is, however, some hesitation about how much can and should be done. For instance, when it comes to printing organs or skin eventually we could print a person or a clone. If you or a loved one was to die a “backup” could be made within a couple of hours. This concept isn’t new and is already being shown in television shows and movies just without the printing process. Instead, they chose to grow the new subjects but imagine how fast it could be if you could just press a button and wait a couple hours for your loved one to be back. When it comes to the problems with the food industry one of the draw backs is that even though it can print the food it cannot cook it so the process is pretty slow going. As for the construction of building or cars etc there has yet to be a problem arising. Since the world as of now is in need of good housing that can be built sustainable and cost efficient. 

There is no telling what other technologies 3-D printers can inspire in the minds of people because there are already so many newer versions of the original coming out. In just a couple of years they could be portable or eventually come to the point like in science fiction movies where things are built at an atomic level using lasers and probably more advanced technology then we have today.