Jonathan Ashmore,
University College London

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.102.6b

I enjoyed both your editorial and the article on 3D printers, but alas the recommended printer company apparently stops trading in mid-January.

Christof Schwiening (author) responds:
‘On the printer company closure I see that they have not gone bankrupt but are pulling out of 3D printers because the market is now very crowded with big manufacturers. The great thing about the Reprappro Company was that they made their machines entirely open source – so anyone could legally copy and make parts and software for them – which is already the case. Perhaps that ethical model inevitably meant that they were not going to survive China’s ability to push out copies at lower prices. The open source model, and the fact that the owner was one of the main ‘inventors’ of 3D printing, led to my recommending them. It is a great shame since they were definitely one of the good guys in a rapidly developing market place.’