Microsoft today announced it has signed patent licensing agreements for the use of the latest Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) with five companies. The agreements cover Sharp Android tablets, Sigma and NextoDi high-end cameras and accessories, as well as Black Magic and Atomos Global broadcast-quality video-recording devices.
If you’re getting a feeling of déjà vu, it’s completely understandable. Microsoft announced the Sharp deal a good three months ago . Yet the other companies don’t look so good alone, and simply aren’t as well-known as Sharp. Then again, the main reason Sharp has been in the news so much lately is because it hasn’t been doing so well .
Microsoft’s statement today, via general manager of Intellectual Property David Kaefer, doesn’t discuss any of the five companies specifically; it just emphasizes that this is a good move for the company:
If you’re reading all this and can’t quite remember what exFAT is, here’s a refresher. exFAT is the successor to FAT, which was developed by Microsoft, SCP, IBM, Compaq, Digital Research, and Novell. exFAT meanwhile is Microsoft’s proprietary file system designed especially for flash drives.
exFAT vastly improves on its predecessor by expanding the size of files that flash memory devices can handle by more than five times and by increasing the speed with which those files can be accessed. Both of these are critical as the size of flash storage increases, and so we can expect Microsoft to strike more and more licensing deals in the months and years to come.
See also – Microsoft sued over use of Live Tiles in its Windows 8 and Windows Phone software and Apple licensed iPhone, iPad design patents to Microsoft, but with an anti-cloning clause
Image credit: Miguel Saavedra
LG G3 review: Third time’s a charm for LG’s 5.5 flagship, but questions remain over battery life
LG’s latest and greatest flagship, the G3, was heavily leaked before its official unveiling in London this week, and as a result, we pretty much knew what to expect ahead of time.
In fact, it was a bit like the HTC One (M8) launch announcement – most of the key details, specs and even images were available well ahead of launch day, but as I noted in our quick hands-on with the device on launch night, sometimes the specs on paper don’t match up with the real-world performance.
It’s still only been a few days since I got my hands on one, and it’s a pre-finalized Korean model at that – so I was warned the battery life might not be the same as the UK version, due to being optimized for Korean networks.
While the core hardware and most of the software experiences will remain the same for the US and European models, the version we looked at here was pre-loaded with services for the Korean market. Most of which are in Korean, which I don’t understand. We’d expect the other variants to come pre-loaded with more appropriate services for their respective regions.
There’s been a trend for devices that have a metal chassis lately. The HTC One (M8) has one, the iPhone 5s is metal and Samsung has been making efforts to make its 2014 devices look less plasticky than previous generations. Hell, even the original HTC One launched over a year ago was mostly metal.
So it’s with little surprise that LG failed to make much of an impact on the wider global market with its LG G2 – it was a solid device in many ways, but with a premium price tag and less-than-premium finish, it’s harder to sway consumers.
For the G3, LG touts it as having a ‘metallic skin’. In reality this means it’s a polycarbonate combined with a layer of scratch-resistant material. It may well be called ‘metallic’ but don’t go expecting actual metal.
Nonetheless, it provides a better finish than the all glossy plastics of the past and the fact that it’s not metal means that it can support wireless charging, which it does.
One of my big concerns with devices like the G3 is the screen size. Previously 5.2-inches for the G2, the G3 now offers a 5.5-inch display which last year would have been considered a hybrid phone-tablet, and this year is the de rigueur smartphone size.
While I like big screens, I don’t like the big devices that house them. Often they’re uncomfortable to hold in one hand, and one-handed operation is virtually impossible. The Note 3 suffers from a touch of this .
Thankfully, LG has considered this too and opted for a tiny bezel around the display, which helps keep the overall size of the device down. It’s certainly a lot easier to hold when making calls than the Note 3, which admittedly has a 5.7-inch display. It also keeps the same ‘floating arc’ design language as seen in previous models, which also helps when it comes to actually holding it.
As well as making it possible to hold for calls, the G3 keeps the rear-mounted power and volume controls too. The buttons are a little smaller and flatter than before, which is a bonus. You’ll ultimately have to spend a little time getting used to them if you haven’t owned the predecessor, if doesn’t necessarily come naturally at first.
For some things, they’re actually well-placed though. The 1W speaker is on the rear of the phone, so you’d likely tend towards laying it face down when listening to music or a podcast, which means you also have easy access to the volume controls.
On other occasions, though, I was left fumbling for the power button when all I was actually doing was dirtying the camera lens with my finger smudges. Or conversely, I’d lock the screen while trying to turn up the volume on a YouTube video.
The back of the device is removable, which is always nice if your battery starts to falter. Taking it off reveals access to the SIM and microSD slots.
Overall, the design is an improvement over the previous generation, and the scratch-resistant shell certainly does a better job of saying ‘premium’, but that doesn’t necessarily make it much to shout about either. What’s impressive is the overall size and weight, considering the size of that screen.
We’ve talked about the size of the screen, but there’s not much point having a massive screen if it looks terrible. There’s no need to worry on this front though, it’s one of the standout features of the handset – in every sense.
With a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution, images and videos look super-sharp, providing the resolution of the source material can match up to the display.
It’s smooth too. Under-the-bonnet there’s a quad-core 2.5Ghz Snapdragon 801 processor powering things, so performance is sprightly and you’re not left waiting for apps to open.
I tested it with a few games too – like the graphically demanding Asphalt 8 and Riptide2 GP – and it didn’t skip a beat. Combining that beautiful, generously-sized screen with glitch-free graphics makes for a pretty rewarding gaming experience. And I’m not that much of a mobile gamer.
The downside of this power is that the handset gets pretty warm, particularly around the power button and the camera sensor. It would’ve likely been worse with a full metal chassis.
Slightly bizarrely, purely as I haven’t seen one in so long, this G3 review model had an extendable antenna. I asked to see which regions would have this feature, but am yet to hear back. I’ll let you know when I do.
I never come to expect too much from the inbuilt speakers in a smartphone – they’re invariably underpowered and unpleasant, with one or two rare exceptions. It’s perhaps one of the best things about the HTC One (M8).
Unfortunately, while LG touts a 1W speaker (with boost on-tap), the audio experience succeeds in volume alone. It’s plenty loud enough, but if you turn it up towards the maximum, it’s tinny.
Another thing I found a little disappointing is the actual quality of calls. The signal seems fine (even without extending the mammoth aerial), but the other person’s voice always sounded a bit distant. No one reported any problems hearing me, though and it wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me.
One big question with devices like the G3 is the battery life. With such a large display, it’s obviously going to have an impact on the overall longevity. In our testing – brace for the lack of surprise – you’ll need to charge this phone every day, but with a little attention it should get your through a waking day without a problem.
This is also probably a good time to mention again that I was warned ahead of time that the Korean-model device might not reveal its true battery potential when used in the UK as it’s optimized for Korean networks. Disclaimer aside, you’re still going to need to charge it every day.
Testing over a few days, I saw some variable performance depending on what I was doing with the phone. For example, on one occasion, the battery reported 89 percent charge seven hours after being removed from the plug – which included just an hour of use. Later the same day, it was down to 30 percent after 15 hours with just over 3 hours of use. However, this really can vary – if you’re playing games or watching videos, your mileage will likely be different.
On another occasion, 13 hours after being unplugged and with the same 3 hours use (installing apps, playing games, watching Netflix), it was down to 5 percent. You can probably guess the point at which I started playing games in the graph above, and equally unsurprisingly, the image below shows the main culprits for that drain. The screen is the biggest drain by far.
Next up: We take a look at the camera and software >
The camera on the G3 is a 13-megapixel affair, keeping it mostly in line with rival devices. But megapixels don’t tell the whole story here.
HTC, for example, went all out on the camera for its One (M8), but stuck with its 4-megapixel ‘Ultrapixel’ approach, plus the addition of more sensors and software options. The end result wasn’t that impressive.
LG has almost gone in the other direction; you won’t find the same array of tweaking options (although there are a few to give you basic image editing and filters) and the Korean manufacturer has actually simplified the UI. Instead of showing all the capture options on-screen as you take a shot there’s almost nothing.
Of course, if you’d rather see the options on-screen, you can choose to display them instead.
For the G3, LG has added infrared laser-assisted auto-focus in order to reduce the delay in taking pictures. It seems to have done the trick too – I was never left wondering why it was taking so long to capture a picture.
The quality of the images is solid too. In somewhat variable testing conditions (sun mixed with grey skies), the shots came out vibrant and not oversaturated. It’s no Lumia-beater, but it’s perfectly acceptable for a smartphone and at least on a par with the Note 3. A few of the test shots are shown below.
This is a tricky one. At a basic level it runs Android KitKat (version 4.4.2) out of the box. This means you’ll also get the usual accompanyment of Google services pre-installed, as well as some locally tweaked options.
As mentioned repeatedly, this is a Korean model, and I don’t speak or read Korean, so none of these additional features could be tested.
That aside, there are some LG specific software tweaks to the core Android experience that do a good job of keeping the UI looking clean.
I particularly like the pull-down notifications drawer; it provides access in a side-scrolling list to all the functions you could want to quickly flick on or off. Underneath these icons, there are persistent screen brightness and incoming call volume controls.
The overall look of the icons is very flat and clean, which works well with the super-high-res display.
LG also provides a number of other new tweaks for the G3, like the custom keyboard options.
The keyboard has smarts too. It’s a little like the BlackBerry system for ensuring you always strike the correct key, even if your aim is a bit off. You won’t actually see a change in the keyboard layout itself, but if you repeatedly strike, say, Q when you mean to hit W, the keyboard will eventually adjust so that you don’t need to change your typing style.
You can also delve into the settings menu to change the color (black or white) of the keyboard, along with the layout of some of the buttons and the overall size.
The same features can be found on some standalone third-party Android apps, but it’s nice to see LG providing the options out of the box without the need to start installing more apps immediately. The fact that it allows you to alter the configuration and size means that you should be able to find some combination of options which work for you.
Although it’s turned off by default, the new keyboard does have a Swype-like swipe input option too.
LG has also included a Smart Assistant to keep your schedule – and phone – running smoothly. In theory, it does things like suggest you return calls you’ve missed (if you haven’t responded) or add certain contacts to your address book (if they call you frequently, for example, but you don’t have the person’s number saved) or suggest you clean up some old files.
In our testing so far, all it persistently tells me about is the weather. I’d obviously expect this to change over time (as it learns more), but for calls that were missed, it hasn’t yet reminded me to return them.
Knock Code is LG’s way of allowing you to unlock the phone without having to remember any pesky passwords or PINs. Instead, you can set a two-to-eight knock sequence as a password. This might seem a bit superfluous to some people, but if you use the Knock to Wake feature and security, having to input a PIN negates the convenience. With Knock Code, it’s useful again.
Knock Code also has another handy little trick. It lets you configure Guest Mode on the device (in which you can restrict exactly which apps can be used) with a different lock screen Knock Code. So, there’s one sequence to get into your regular phone with all your files, and another to enter Guest Mode.
Although not new to the G3, it continues the tradition of allowing you to run two apps simultaenously on the screen. All you need to do is hold down the back arrow and select which app you want at the top and bottom of the screen by dragging them from a list. If you want to resize them to make one bigger than the other, just drag the bar in the middle of the screen.
It’s pretty simple stuff, but if LG wants it to be a contender in the marketplace, and make any headway against Samsung (and its Note series in particular), it’s important to offer a comparable feature set, even if it is simple stuff.
There’s also an LG Health app pre-installed, which automatically tracks the number of steps you take and allows you to log specific types of activity. It’s a little like Samsung’s S Health, and no match for a dedicated fitness tracking band/app combo, but if you’re looking to get some basic movement measurements, it’ll serve that purpose.
Realistically, it might be a little larger than the ideal device to take for a run or to the gym. That said, I do like the circular UI that shows your activity.
I’m impressed by the G3. Without a firm SIM-free price to measure it up against, it’s hard to say if it represents good value for money or not. However, it’s a premium smartphone from a premium brand, so we’d expect it to be closer in line with competition at around the $500/600-mark than the Nexus range at around $250.
I’m actually impressed enough that it’s left me wondering why we don’t hear more of LG in the smartphone market. With solid camera performance, a sleek (for its size) design and an impeccable display that could well change once this goes on sale in Europe and the US.
I like that it’s not overladen with LG’s tweaks too. Admittedly there are some that I just couldn’t use (due to being in Korean), but it’s refreshing to be given a few new features and to just sort of get on with it. Samsung provides a massive amount of UI changes, custom services and seas of options, but it can get a bit confusing for the average user. With the G3, LG has hit the sweet spot between functionality and design.
It’s not perfect, the battery seems to drop pretty quickly once you start throwing demanding tasks at it, and there are better camera and audio experiences out there, particularly if you do most of your listening without headphones. But for devices that excel in the camera or music stakes, there’s usually a compromise to be made elsewhere. So far, I’ve still not really found that compromise on the G3.
Behind the rise of the 3D printing revolution
Want to turn your creative thinking about objects into a reality? Of course you do. What if you could just magic up a new button for the one that fell off your favourite shirt? What if you could invent a new way for carrying hot items in the kitchen? What if?
The rise of 3D printing holds a lot of promise for those of us who can focus and visualise what we might make. The idea of the replicator might have sparked the imaginations of Star Trek viewers or the Maker with ‘base block’ ( recycled or otherwise) from Warren Ellis’ Transmetropolitan series could point to a home unit that can take spoken commands to create almost anything. But we’re a long way from this future, for now.
3D printing might not be available in all homes yet, but the latest desk-top 3D printers being us one step closer to the possibility of manufacturing more things for ourselves.
The process is not an easy one still, but some are more optimistic than others when it comes to future possibilities. Chris Anderson, former editor of Wired magazine recently left his editorial position to take up the position as CEO at 3D Robotics. Though the $5million+ investment in the company led by Jon Callaghan of True Ventures and Bryce Roberts at O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures probably helped a lot, it’s Anderson’s belief in people’s own power to manufacture things for themselves that appears to have spurred on his change in career.
Anderson’s book, “ Makers ” also came out recently. It outlines ways in which people are making products for themselves already and 3D printing plays a big part in the inspiration for more people to get involved.
It’s smart to get in while the industry is on the uptick, but 3D printing has been around for some time and there’s a long way to go before domestic users will be able to think of something and print it off.
It probably won’t come as a surprise to read that the term ‘3D printing’ was coined at MIT. In 1995, grad students Tim Anderson and Jim Bredt hacked an inkjet printer to spew a binding solution onto powder to create 3D shapes. After a time, the experiments became a business and Bredt and Anderson founded Z Corporation which was acquired by 3D Systems in January this year.
That’s a lot of history to skip in one go, but the companies helping people print in three dimensions today are pushing the boundaries for heavy industry and small businesses to design and create some pretty amazing things.
Shapeways is a 3D printing startup that began as a spin off of Royal Philips Electronics in the Netherlands. It was established in 2007 by Peter Weijmarshausen, Robert Schouwenburg and Marleen Vogelaa who pushed things further through the Philips Lifestyle incubator.
In 2008 the company launched a service for customers to design their own 3D products by sending a computer aided design (CAD) file to the Shapeways website. Through this process, the startup has encouraged hundreds of designers and businesses to make things and sell them, as well as providing tutorials and generally working to democratize the manufacturing process.
Shapeways has since printed and sold more than a million user-created objects from the delightfully silly to the practical and extraordinarily beautiful. Everything from Minecraft figurines and the Internet’s own “ F U Anteater ” to an assortment of wedding rings and even mathematical shapes have been explored through the service.
Elisa Richardson is Shapeways’ PR and social media manager, she told TNW that the 3D printing process is opening up not only through access to services like Shapeways, but also because talented people are available to help out. “We have a couple of people on our forums that you can hire as a modeler,” she says. “We also have the market place where you can buy things that have already been modeled.”
Naturally making things is not without its design restrictions. Copyright and IP management is looming on the horizon as access to printing gets easier. “It’s definitely something people keep in mind,” says Richardson. “Especially if they are making something relating to a meme . We haven’t come across it yet but ut’s a growing issue for sure.”
Shapeways has recently opened up a new facility in New York’s Long Island City. Previously manufacturing happened in Eindhoven and the enormous spaces house the massive, multi-million dollar machines that create the products of customer’s minds.
“The reception we have had by opening the facility in Long Island City is that everyone in our US community is so excited,” says Richardson. “They now have a place they can tour and see. Bringing people closer to these machines has definitely helped Shapeways.”
Touring a manufacturing site would have inspired relatively few people not so long ago. So it seems that the personal relationship that users and interested parties have with the 3D printing process is changing how we interact with industrial environments.
So how hard is it to work out ways to submit a design to Shapeways? It seems that learning to use CAD software is not quite for everyone yet. The software itself can be expensive and it takes a lot of time invested to use the tools required to make the things you might visualize in your head.
Shapeways is working on methods to help users learn. “We host classes every month,” says Richardson. “And the attendance is growing. As people realise it’s getting more accessible everyone wants to get involved.”
Richardson herself is a good example of a passionate learner. “I have just started to learn how to 3D model,” she told TNW. “I’ve always worked in tech and not design. It’s not easy to pick up but if you have an interest it’s much more accessible. We have these programs called co-creators that throw everything in front of you and you work through the steps. Things like that have been easy, but other programs have been a challenge.”
Rather than huge industrial manufacturing, Shapeways works well for bespoke creations and customization. “Up to about ten thousand orders it is cost effective,” says Richardson. “We can currently print up to the size of a bedside table or a chair. I think that will get larger as we are growing but of course as you get bigger the cost also grows. We can work with 30 different materials, which by most designers’ feedback is incredible.”
When it comes to bringing the process closer to users, the desktop 3D printer is strarting to inspire hobbyist and pro-consumers.
Makerbot is practically a by-word for desktop 3D printer now. The company took 16% of all 3D printers, industrial and personal, from 2009 until 2011.
The Brooklyn-based company was founded in 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer, and Zach “Hoeken” Smith, with the aim of bringing 3D printing into the home and making it more affordable.
The MakerBot Replicator 2 desktop 3D printer is the fourth-generation machine. It’s faster and has set new standards for the company when it comes to build volume, resolution, affordability and ease of use.
The machine by itself will set you back $2,199, but when you think about the things you can make, and the possibilities for being creative, you could easily recoup that costs with the right ideas.
Interestingly Makerbot has brought its wares closer to the domestic market by opening its flagship store in the NoHo district of Manhattan. In the shop, customers can see demonstrations, learn more about 3D printing and buy products made by other people.
Getting into gear to make things is a bit easier too, as Makerbot’s ‘ Thingiverse ‘ – a catalog of projects offers more than 28,000 models and things to download for free use.
Hot on the heels of the Makerbot success story, is Form Labs , makers of the Form 1 desktop 3D printer. The company was established by more MIT alumni.
Maxim Lobovsky, David Cranor, and Natan Linder met as graduate students at the MIT Media Lab in 2009 as classmates in MIT’s legendary How To Make (almost) Anything class. They officially founded Formlabs in September 2011. Seed investors include Mitch Kapor, Joi Ito, and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors.
Maxim Lobovsky has been working in the field of 3D printing for some time including open source DIY 3D printers like the Fab at Home project. He says that he is spurred on by the future possibilities. “There’s a lot of unrealised potential here. You can do a lot of cool stuff with these machines as a hobbyist, in product development, for architects. The industry has been around for 25 years already so it’s been happening, but a lot more of that could be possible if these tools can get to a much wider range of people, if it’s more affordable. I think we’ve still only scratched the surface of what’s possible when it comes to demand,” he says.
Form Labs leapt into the limelight online with the phenomenal success of its Kickstarter campaign . The company set out with a $100,000 goal and received $2,945,885 by the time the campaign closed.
Lobovsky says the extra funding will come in handy to expand the business. “The plan was always to reinvest that money into developing our product,” he told TNW. “We’ve been able to hire ore people on the software side. there’s so much to do. It’s so exciting from the entrepreneurship standpoint. There’s so many different directions to take the product in and ways to improve it that have real impact for our users. So it’s great to put that money right back into product development.”
So how close to the home printing system are we? Lobovsky is hopeful for future developments but he is pragmatic about the current state of play. “We call our product the first prosumer 3D printer, I definitely don’t think this is a consumer product,” he says. “I don’t think 3D printing is quite there yet. The machines are still too expensive, they don’t do enough and they’re not quite easy enough to use for consumers. But to me it’s a continuum between the most advanced high end users and aerospace companies, things like that and the consumer.
“It’s still a professional product but its affordable and easy enough to use that hobbyist, small businesses and people who have some need for a tool like this to prototyping or building products, this is now accessible to those people,” he explains.
The hope is that by making more desktop 3D printers, prices will come down and the technology will advance so that more people can get involved. “If you talk to big 3D printer companies they’ll talk about working with NASA to do this or a big company to do that,” says Lobovsky. “Our desktop printer encourages a more grass roots movement. What you will see, rather than us working directly with customers it will be more interesting to see what people can do with it when they haven’t had access to 3D printers before. Just like the PC revolution spawned an increase in all sorts of software development and new uses for computers.”
The future of 3D printing for Lobovsky looks like a lifelong career. the multifaceted nature of the business is something that spurs him on. ” For me it’s really exciting because it pulls from so many disciplines. Technically its software, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and materials all combining into the product. For the business we’re selling the machine, materials and tools. It’s a really interesting and fun system we’re building.
“Hopefully we’re building a big company and we’ll have all kinds of products in the future,” he continues. “We could reduce the costs and open up the product or increase the capability. There’s also working on the design tools and getting content to people. I think we’re in it for the long haul.”
Pushing the idea of 3D printing to a wider audience is not hard when it comes to inspiration, but while there are still some fairly high barriers to entry for domestic users, it can still be hard work making sure the message gets past hobbyists and the technically inclined. RepRap Central was founded in 2010 by Peter Ormond to address this.
Ormond says that creating a store for different 3D printers has helped the cause already. “I had been part of the 3D Printing Community but there was a need to promote personal 3D printing to a much wider audience,” he told TNW. “The potential to change the world was there but word was trickling out. I put together the RepRap Central 3D Printer Store bringing together the key players in Personal 3D Printing to promote the technology around the world.”
Ormond says that sales have been ‘vibrant’ and that the market is growing at an encouraging pace. “Our Customers come from a wide range of sectors; education, engineering, science and research through to architects, artists and just about anyone who wants to create new and exciting projects, prototypes or products.”
His excitement about 3D printing borders of the evangelical, but it is also quite infectious. Although others have pointed out that this is currently a niche market, Ormond is focused on the future, “The universality of 3D Printers will ensure it’s anything other than niche,” he says.
The prospect of home printing is not a future prospect for Ormond either. “It is taking off right now and we intend to make it as exciting as we possibly can,” he enthuses. “Many of our home users have their 3D printer next to their inkjet and PC, ready to print their next invention, create a piece of innovative jewelry or print that elusive curtain ring. The opportunity to create a business using your personal 3D printer is there, you just need to make it happen”.
That said he is tempered somewhat by the challenge of making software more accessible. “The original software used to create 3D models had a learning curve which won’t have suited everybody,” he says. “Fortunately, a great deal of effort has been put into making 3D modelling fun and with products such as Google Sketchup and Tinkercad , 3D modelling has never been easier.
http://www.youtubeom/watch?v=gsfH_cyXa1o
Ormond notes that the current pricing is similar to laser printers when they first arrived on the market, so there is a chance that as the technology gets better, the prices will drop sooner. He even recommends the DIY approach, “You can build your own using our kits though you do need to be reasonably technically minded.”
Naturally Ormond has a number of 3D printers of his own and puts them to practical use. “I am currently creating a replacement drawer for our Washing machine, sorry it’s not a Nasa Satellite object but it is an object that needs replacing. I’ve recently printed an ornate Celtic inscribed Skull and a Canon DSLR Camera Model.” You can see Ormond’s examples and other work on the RepRap Central blog .
It’s encouraging the hear the excitement Ormond embodies when it comes to 3D printing. “I’m inspired by all those who create things, large and small,” he says. “We are just seeing a glimpse of what these 3D Printers are capable of. There are some that are capable of printing organic structures, human tissue and early organ prototypes. We will shortly be able to print buildings, Cars and even the electronics and Optics to go into Cameras and such like.
“Imagine the changes that will take place when you purchase the latest iPhone as a digital file that’s downloaded and printed on your Personal 3D Printer,” he continues. “It is a technology that will change the world we live in, but we will have time to adjust and make the most of this amazing technological revolution. All in all, it’s an amazing time we live in. We all need to embrace Personal 3D Printing and start making the most of our future, today.”
The future today sounds exceptionally cool. At TNW we’re skeptical about the domestic uses for now. As a business prospect though, it’s hot property to be jumping into and the market is already starting to fill up.
The idea of being able to recycle and remake things though, that’s a very appealing idea. Although as seen in the Transmetropolitan comic books, maybe in the future only the rich will make things out of newly minted maker materials. But if we can reuse things instead of piling them up in landfills and if I can finally match that missing button to the ones on my favourite shirt, then the future looks as though it will be worth waiting for. Just don’t take too long about it.
Image Credit: Sean Gallup /Getty Images