Web 3.D – Some Numbers Behind “Bits and Atoms”

The notion of “Bits and Atoms” has recently become a hot area of discussion among mainstream journalists like Wired’s Chris Anderson and big time investors. (To be fair certain VC’s have championed the transformative power of software and plastic for a while.)

What has been missing from the discussion so far are numbers. From the relatively low cost of the enabling tools to the size of market size opportunities they create. This presentation gives some background on the history of custom manufacturing technology, the types of tools that exist and what they are capable of, and how massive markets for physical products are relative to digital goods.

One final plea, lets call this trend “Web 3.D”. I hate the idea of wasting the “3.0″ buzzword on the “Semantic” web!

Tagged as: 3d printing, Bits and Atoms, Chris Anderson, CNC Mills, Custom Manufacturing, Jewelry, Laser cutting, Plastic, Product, Toys, Twitter, Union Square Ventures, Wired