The future is almost here... Maybe.

[absinthe_dot_ca]

The future just got a little closer, methinks. The Pirate Bay (better known for illegal downloads of the latest Hollywood schlock-busters and whatever drivel passes for music these days) has started a new category of downloads for what it calls "physibles" - object definition files for 3D printers. The idea is that some day (hopefully soon), when you need a new pair of shoes (say), rather than going to the shoe store and trying on a thousand pairs, you'll browse online, find the ones you like, and "print" them at your desk. We're a long way from that, of course - for one thing, the current crop of 3D printers don't handle mixed-material items very well. But this is an area where a lot of progress is being made, and who knows what the next 10 or 20 years may bring?

(For one possible vision of this future, see the Cory Doctorow novel Makers, available online and at book sellers, if any still exist.)