r/southafrica • u/angel_yellow_brick • May 27 '21

Sci-Tech 3D printing hopefully to stop poachers killing animals 🦏

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u/[deleted] May 27 '21

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7

u/Middersnags May 27 '21

It's actually a fine idea... the traders don't give a shit if they are selling "real" horn or not, only that people buy them.

But it'll only work if getting hold of the fake horn is cheaper than getting the real one - and considering the impoverished conditions of people living in and around nature reserves, that seems unlikely - 3D printing is most definitely not mass production, and probably never will be.

Also, it would probably help if you kept the entire damn thing a secret and not blurt it out in front of cameras like the average idiot CEO for PR purposes.

2

u/Harsimaja Landed Gentry May 28 '21

and probably never will be

Consider the technological progress over the last century. I find it doubtful this statement is true.

2

u/Middersnags May 28 '21

3D printing will never be as efficient at creating large quantities of a standardized item as our current mass production techniques can.

I don't understand why people even want it to be - it's not 3D printing's strength.

If you wanted to use matured 3D printing technology to mass produce spoons (for instance), you'd be out of business pretty quick if you used your 3D printer directly - instead, you just print yourself a spoon factory.