Brexit, The Economy and House Prices (Part 2)

GreatApe

gfplux wrote: »

I look at the possibilities of 3D printing like home printing. I imagine almost everyone posting here have their own printer.
Possibly one day we will have a home 3D printer or a "local" one. Certain goods bought from the Amazon of the time will actually be a piece of software downloaded to the home or local printer.
We will have less delivery times, less delivery pollution, less jobs , and almost instant gratification.

its not at all comparable, people should not use the word '3D printer' because it wrongly equates printing ink on paper with manufacturing physical object

Rename '3D printers' and mico factories and then apply all the arguments to micro factories and you will assess them much more correctly.

So why is a mico factory better than a central factory?

Even if the two could be technologically identically capable (IMPOSSIBLE!) that is to say a mico factory in your kitchen for $100 is just as capable as a large $5 billion specialized factory (IMPOSSIBLE) would you want a mini factory in your kitchen?

Molding a bit of plastic is one thing, what about welding together a tea pot you want that in your kitchen?

Sapphire

Conrad wrote: »

I envisage a flowering of higher end and cottage industry type manufacturing. Who would have said 15 yrs ago we'd have the car manufacturing we see today.

I tend to agree with you. I'm now focusing on buying British as much as I can, and since I've been paying attention to what's available I've noticed that there are some wonderful small businesses producing gorgeous products made in England – things like well-made and uniquely designed knitwear, coats and hats (all produced by small factories and enterprises outside London). These things are not downmarket, but they are certainly not more expensive than the designer rubbish produced internationally. And I'm also buying largely British (and also sometimes African) food now, and it's amazing what is available.

I've also noticed that some small workshops and factories still remain (also outside London), which have existed since the 19th century and continue to operate today. They continue to use their old premises and techniques, though some have of course mechanised parts of the work that used to be carried out by humans.

This has been a heartening thing for me to see, since I thought all such enterprise had been obliterated in favour of cheap imports from other countries. It's great that not all the amazing skills we had have been lost.

I was looking at Richmond Lock the other day, and marvelling at the care and attention lavished on its beautiful ironwork, which made me think about the astonishing and sometimes crazy ideas produced in the late Victorian period by people like Brunel. Such creations will likely remain long after the last of the largely hideous structures currently being built in parts of London have turned to slums, then been demolished, as the Projects were in New York…

Rusty_Shackleton

cogito wrote: »

Under federal governments, all member states have equal voting weight. In the EU, voting weight is based on population so Germany has about 15 times as many votes as Malta so the EU is not a never will be a federal entity as the Germans, French and Italians would never allow it.

There was an earlier comment on here about why aspects of Brexit negotiations could not start until December. It's because of the Germans election and Michel Barmier cannot go to the loo without German permission.

Oh god, you're right. How could I have been so stupid not to see that the EU is nothing like a federal system such as the US.

I mean, it's not like California has 53 representatives, Texas 36, Florida 27... It couldn't be that representatives are apportioned by population of states and that it's reviewed after each census, could it?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_apportionment

Sapphire

Rusty_Shackleton wrote: »

Oh god, you're right. How could I have been so stupid not to see that the EU is nothing like a federal system such as the US.

Even a fool could see that the EU is nothing like the United States – and never will be. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Rusty_Shackleton

GreatApe wrote: »

its not at all comparable, people should not use the word '3D printer' because it wrongly equates printing ink on paper with manufacturing physical object

Rename '3D printers' and mico factories and then apply all the arguments to micro factories and you will assess them much more correctly.

So why is a mico factory better than a central factory?

Even if the two could be technologically identically capable (IMPOSSIBLE!) that is to say a mico factory in your kitchen for $100 is just as capable as a large $5 billion specialized factory (IMPOSSIBLE) would you want a mini factory in your kitchen?

Molding a bit of plastic is one thing, what about welding together a tea pot you want that in your kitchen?

Please take a look at my post at 3747.

3D printers are not microfactories, they are an example of additive manufacturing. By your comments you clearly don't know much about actual manufacturing processes. To anyone working in manufacturing (I'm one of them) your comments about 3D printers are just uninformed and silly.

GreatApe

Rusty_Shackleton wrote: »

With regards to 3D printing posts above...

Yes, 3D printing a rather poor term, the correct terminology is actually 'additive manufacturing' and it offers an advantage in terms of material efficiency and as the technology develops, possibly the precision of CNC milling (if you don't know what milling is I highly recommend a visit to youtube, search 5 axis milling, it's really quite a satisying process to watch!). Milling is used where casting (moulds) aren't possible.

Kettles are a bad example for 3D printing, because moulds are efficient and cost effective in high volumes. However, a 3D printer would allow you to make a kettle in whatever design you fancy. Or you could make kettles as a business and do small batches of any number of different designs (not cost effective when the fixed cost of a mould can be substantial).

With regards to materials, 3D printers are using a miniaturised version of extrusion. You can extrude a number of different metals, including aluminium. There's no reason 3D printers, as they advance, couldn't print with a number of materials beyond the couple of plastics currently used. To follow your examples above, you absolutely can 3D print food, but you don't print a loaf of bread for the same reason you don't print kettles - but you would 3D print a custom design or message, in say, icing on a cake, because a 3D could be more efficient and intricate than doing it by hand.

3D printers in the home will likely be treated the same way as normal printers are today, but commercial versions most certainly have a future in manufacturing (and for production, just R&D). I don't mean this as a dig, but many of you are seeing this from the perspective of consumers, I'm seeing it from the perspective of a manufacturer (NB I'm in a commercial function, not an engineer, but still) - anybody else work in manufacturing and see the extensive possibilities?

Call them mini factories, or better yet call them mini unspecilised general very limited factories and you then have an idea of what they will be used for

Rusty_Shackleton

Sapphire wrote: »

Even a fool could see that the EU is nothing like the United States – and never will be. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

It's not at the moment, but as lots of brexiters like to point out, it's headed towards a United States of Europe.

Way to ignore the actual point we were discussing though, that the EU is a federation of states like the US.

GreatApe

Rusty_Shackleton wrote: »

Please take a look at my post at 3747.

3D printers are not microfactories, they are an example of additive manufacturing. By your comments you clearly don't know much about actual manufacturing processes. To anyone working in manufacturing (I'm one of them) your comments about 3D printers are just uninformed and silly.

I used to be a process engineer

You know, those people that design production lines and processes

always_sunny

cogito wrote: »

You're saying that the UK is protectionist today. As the UK must impose tariffs dictated by the EU, that must mean that the EU is protectionist.

Some of us have always known that. Welcome to the club.

There was never an argument about the EU protectionism. The argument is about the hypocritical view that the UK protectionism is forced on because of the EU otherwise the UK would be this open free market.

I think you'd struggle to name a single country/union that is not protectionist.

We will see after Brexit if those predictions turn to be true, it'd be a huge blow for those at the bottom of the food chain, undercut by imports and holding a weak currency.

cogito

GreatApe wrote: »

Why not make it a federal uk with each region responsible for its own taxes and its own spending?

London would fly more than it does now and the rest would sink more than they are now. To pretend otherwise is stupid.

It doesn't work like that. The USA is federal and the richest states support the poorest.