This article was an interesting read. 3D printing has been a controversial gadget and also has been praise as a wonderful step to the future of technology. In the article, Nokia, the former worldwide number one cell phone maker, has added 3D templates into the new Lumia 820 smartphone. The templates allow 3D printer owners to be able to customize and print out a case for the phone. Now this may sound like a gimmick that may not be very useful, like Siri for Apple and Pop up Screens for Samsung, but it does contain an artful and expressive potential. I'm sure we will see a lot of camouflage (for boys) and Hello Kitty (for girls) cases being manufactured at home with 3D printer owners but their will be a few out there that will come up with an original case for the phone, something Picasso-esque or Dali inspired. Now it might be a baby step to allow Nokia users to print out their own cases for their phones but in the last quote of the article, John Kneeland, a Nokia Community and Developer Marketing manager, states ”You want a waterproof, glow-in-the-dark phone with a bottle-opener and a solar charger? Someone can build it for you — or you can print it yourself!”
That customization feature seems like it is blurring the lines of commercial technology with art expression. We're not far off from having our cake and eating it too.
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