Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
Serdar Yegulyap and I have been having a scattered dialogue about science fiction, culture, and economics as of late, mostly over at his blog.
(As he and I are both fans of old-school correspondence, I’m working to make sure I do part. I want to see what can be done with a blog-implemented, old-school correspondence on issues. Hell, we might get a book out of it.)
Frankly, I am concerned Economy has replaced Culture in America.
Well I’m feeling flush with excitement. First I got it kinda right on 3D printing, and now there’s another case where you’ll need to check my ego: Wal-Mart seems to be obviously moving forward with e-Commerce. Awhile ago I suspected Wal-Mart could indeed “go geeky”, so I’ll consider this a partial victory.
In short, Wal-Mart clearly has to move with the times to have a presence in e-Commerce, and is clearly doing it. I’d add that when you throw on it’s mobile investments, Silicon Valley skunkworks, and Vudu, it can play pretty big.
But since I first speculated on what Wal-Mart can do, I think their reputation has gotten worse. I’m no fan of Wal-Mart at all, so consider my bias pre-announced, but I think that people think even less of them than they did a few years ago.
So here’s where I see a potential issue: Wal-Mart’s reputation can affect their ability to move forward. I present this, of course, for analysis.
First, there’s a recruiting issue. I know plenty of people who won’t even go into a Wal-Mart, so how many are going to want to work for them? Not sure how a big of a dent this’ll put into potential talent, but I’m sure the dent is there.
Also keep this in mind – working at Wal-Mart puts that on people’s resumes. How many people who would work for Wal-Mart would not do so due to what others may think.
Secondly, there’s the competitor issue. Yes, Wal-Mart has a huge “install base,” but it also has penny of people gunning for it directly (Target, Amazon) as well as indirectly (virtually everyone else). All it takes is an alliance between several ornery competitors to give Wal-Mart some pain.
Third, I think Wal-Mart may be at a demographic disadvantage. I’m not sure how well their current demographic is going to adapt to a more high-tech Wal-Mart, and what kind of heavy e-commerce base they can count on. I’m not sure, frankly.
Fourth, back to reputation. Wal-Mart has a repetitional weakness that competitors, issue #2, could probably use against them. If you think others won’t get nasty, think again – especially considering Wal-Mart could be a serious threat to them.
So quick summary of this:
Could be a very interesting time in the Geekonomy.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.
As you have may seen on our Twitter feed, Staples is going to have in-store 3D Printers.
This isn’t one of the plastic thread printers I usually talk about because they’re well known and my friends have them. They’re MCor’s IRIS printer (http://www.mcortechnologies.com/products/iris/) which actually uses colored, glued, and cut paper. It’s basically making things out of faux colored wood. At least appearance-wise these things can be more advanced than your home 3d printer with single or two colors of plastic.
Awhile ago I noted that 3D printing could spread like Print On Demand. I noted that a store like Lowes or Home Depot could have a 3D printer, much as CVS had made a POD deal with Kodak. I guess it arrived – though as opposed to doing 3D printing while I get PVC pipe, I’ll get it while checking out some awesome folders.
In short, I’d like to do a victory lap for predicting this could happen – then get down to the repercussions of it.
I was mostly right!
OK, not an overly satisfying victory lap. So let’s move on – what does this mean, in my expert opinion.
PROMINENCE: This is pretty prominent. People go to Staples for all sorts of things, which you can tell because of Staple’s at-times oddball selections. They do a lot and serve a lot of needs, so many people are going to get to exposed to 3D Printing. This will probably accelerate acceptance.
CONTEXT: I predicted that 3D printing would first appear in more hardware-oriented contexts, or perhaps be something CVS piled onto. I was wrong here, but the context is interesting. People will be exposed to 3D printing in more of an office/professional/utility context. I think this means it will be seen as more a media/creative/business tool than as a hardware/goods tool if there’s widespread public exposure.
COMPETITION: I don’t know how well this will work, and I’m kind of easily distracted by how cool it is. If it is a success, then you can expect others to copy it (I’m looking at you, Office Max). What we want to monitor is if it’s rational adaption or bandwagon-jumping.
COMPETITION THE SECOND: If this works out you think other companies making (or wanting to make) 3D printers won’t jump on the bandwagon? I expect the bandwagon has a lot of room.
OPPORTUNITIES: This still presents opportunities for people who will work with the 3D printers, those who maintain them, and those who install and teach on them. At least if this works out – might be something to pay attention too. You may want to start putting 3D Printing on that resume . . .
LEGAL ISSUES: Oh, you just imagine the ways people will try to keep 3D printers from printing things that are of dubious legal nature. I note this in general, but we’re probably going to hear more of it.
MEDIA PROMINENCE: I want to watch how people react in the greater media to this – if at all. It could bring 3D printing into greater prominence, and in a positive way, unlike the edgy issues of 3D Printed guns.
This is a big step forward in 3D printing, my geeks. Pay attention.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.