♪ (ragtime music) ♪
- (Finebros) So today we're starting you off
with something a little different.
You're actually going to be reacting to some new technology today.
- Okay. I like technology.
- Oh, great.
- Okay, what is this?
- (Finebros) So we're gonna show you all about... this.
(silence)
- I'm really underwhelmed.
- That does not look particularly new.
- That's kinda cool.
- It's like kind of a printer.
- It's a robot of some kind.
I have no idea what it would do.
Why would you need this wire?
- Oh, is it a 3D printer?
- (Finebros) It is! - Oh, okay! Oh, good.
I didn't know they looked like this, but I have heard of them.
(movie reel clicks)
- (Finebros) What do you think that is?
- I have absolutely no idea.
- Uh... I have no idea.
- It's an automatic lanyard maker.
- It looks it could be a copier of some sort.
- It's a 3D robot.
Some kind of 3D robot.
- I would guess it's a 3D printer.
- (Finebros) What you're looking at is a 3D printer.
- Oh, really?
- That small?
- Oh, interesting.
- Form some mold and you get the live thing.
- (Finebros) You can create or download designs
for a multitude of objects and the printer will print it
and you will have a physical product in your hand
right from that machine. - That's fantastic.
- So what do I get to make?
What are we waiting for? Let's have fun!
- (Finebros) So part of the way this works is with something
called filament, which is a type of plastic that you see right there.
- I see that.
- (Finebros) So this is what makes everything.
- This is it?
- That's fantastic, isn't it?
This technology's gonna change everything.
- I'm sure they're easy to produce this thing,
and then we can buy these things in different colors.
- I don't see how a little string like this
can make a 3D dimensional product.
(reel thuds) - Ooh!
That's why you can't amuse everyone.
- (Finebros) So we're gonna now walk you through how to use this.
- Oh gosh! No.
- (in disbelief) I'm gonna use it?
- Good luck to you!
- I can't use it without a computer. (laughs)
- (Finebros) Just like a regular printer, if you were gonna print text--
- Uh-huh. - (Finebros) You need to hook up
a computer to it, but instead of printing text
you're gonna print things.
All right, we're gonna turn it on.
(flips switch)
(machine whirs) - I'm gonna print an object now?
- (Finebros) Shortly.
(squealing with delight)
- (Finebros) Here's the program that comes with the printer
that we loaded with pre-made objects,
so take a look at the screen and select anything from that list
and it will print it. - Oh, this is so fantastic.
- We've got the iPhone case, a padlock...
- Thor's hammer, and a spork!
- I wanna see the padlock.
- I guess an iPhone case.
- I think the spork would be probably the most useful for me
'cause I'm a foodie.
- I'd like to make Thor's hammer.
- Go to print.
(punches key)
- (Finebros) So before it starts, it needs to heat up to 210°.
- We've got a ways to go.
(machine whirs) - (tsks) I'm waiting.
- It's 178... 180° already.
- So I don't have to go to some factory in Hong Kong
to watch this being made?
- If I get the right gear, I could do this stuff at home.
This is amazing.
- I don't understand where it could be done.
(machine begins calibrating) - Oh. Oh!
- Ooh, it's starting!
- I've heard about this technology.
I never thought I would actually sit and participate.
- (Finebros) And then it's gonna calibrate
so it can find itself to know where to start the mold.
- It's like taking measures and...
- Maybe I should get back a little bit... back further.
(machine whirs) - It's pretty noisy too.
- It's almost as slow as my printer at home.
- Does it make it on top of this platform or underneath it?
Oh, there it comes.
- It's drawing out the outline.
- Oh, I see it now. It has an outline made.
(machine whirs)
- Well, this is amazing.
- It's probably just gonna lay layer on top of layer
until it gets however thick it wants to be.
- Hey, this could take a while, couldn't it?
Does it move any faster?
- (Finebros) In just two hours and ten minutes,
you'll have that iPhone case. - Oh.
Two hours... all right, you bringing lunch or dinner?
- (Finebros) So in a little less than an hour,
you would have the spork. - I'm gonna watch the whole thing?
- (Finebros) In just 17 hours, you'll have Thor's hammer.
(stunned silence)
- Hours?
- (Finebros) In just 12 hours, you'll have this lock.
- In 12 hours.
Oh, (giggles) get out of here and go buy one at the store.
- It's not bad, even though it's 12 hours, I think it's worth it.
- (Finebros) So, obviously, we're not gonna sit here
for the two hours. - Right, okay.
- (Finebros) So I'll cancel the print. - Aww.
- (Finebros) But we have the finished product here to show you.
- Oh, well, that's pretty cute.
- That's great.
- My god.
- And with the design and everything in it, right.
Gee, that's very neat.
- Very well-conceived and put together.
- This is almost an actual production piece.
- (laughs) It's put Thor on it too?
That is just amazing that it can write.
- Plain dang impressive.
17 hours though. Oh my god.
- Things that I couldn't even imagine are created already.
- The other technologies sort of creep up on you
'cause I'm familiar with the phone.
For me, I cannot imagine it, even though I'm sitting right here
with my powerful hammer.
- (Finebros) Who do you think benefits the most
as this becomes even more advanced and more affordable
and less time consuming?
- Well, I think, primarily, it's gonna be the medical field.
- Commerce, which is the basis, really, of all cultures
and all societies.
It turns the whole making of the economy on its head.
- I wonder what happens to certain other businesses
that sell the product.
I mean, what's gonna-- goodbye!
- I don't think we have to worry about
replacing human beings with this yet.
Maybe in 50 years.
- (Finebros) So 3D printing has a lot of pros and cons even now.
The bad is that people have made guns with this technology
that actually work. - Yes, I heard about that.
- I didn't think about that. That's really-- that's scary.
- (Finebros) But on the other side of it, there's prosthetic limbs
and all these innovations and accessibility in the medical field.
So what are your thoughts about those sides of the technology?
- I don't fret on it.
- We're gonna get into the censorship issue,
where we go, "Okay, well, you can't make certain things."
Well, who's gonna control that?
- We have made a lot of advances that are very helpful today
and very much needed, so we can't stop technology.
- If you want to make a weapon, you don't need a 3D printer to do that.
On the plus side, the prosthetic limbs, valves...
that's just wonderful.
- (Finebros) So if this is the technology now,
where do you think we're heading? - I really can't imagine
what's gonna be in 20 years from now.
- If you'd make it as big as this room, it could make our own cars.
- I think it's going into space.
If we go to another planet, can you imagine how much stuff we'd need?
But now we can make what we need.
- (Finebros) So last question, if you could have one of these now,
would you want one? - Absolutely not.
I don't need it in my life.
- I can't think of what I would want to make, to be honest.
- This just seems a bit clunky, a bit noisy, a bit basic,
so I'm sure that in five years they would be really awesome.
- Yes, I would want one.
- I'm the first one in line.
- My great aunt was born in 1889.
Her attitude always was, "Oh, isn't this exciting?"
So I think it's really important to kind of have that attitude about,
"Isn't this exciting? Isn't this amazing? What else can it do?"
And be just in awe.
- Thanks for watching another episode of Elders React.
- Be sure to subscribe!
We have new videos every single week.
- Good bye!
- You may have thought this was the real Don, but actually,
(speaking robotically) I'm a 3D print of myself,
3D print of myself, 3D print of myself.
♪ (ragtime music) ♪