Downloading Designs: A Pinhole Camera

When we wrote about D.E. Seller's bookcase, commenter Chs suggested "I love the idea of farming out the design to local fab shops though. You pick out a plywood of your choice, and your local router-table, water-jet, or laser fabrication shop punches one out for you. would almost completely eliminate the energy and costs associated with shipping. mighty green indeed." We thought what an interesting idea- designers produce an object, publish the plans and we print it out and assemble it, like IKEA without the roof-rack or the trip to the big store, just download your sofa. The same day we saw this great pinhole camera design where you download and print the PDF, follow the instructions (watch the flash movie, it is wonderful) load the film and you have a working camera. The economic model has a few holes but this could be the future. After all they are printing circuit boards on inkjet printers, the next version may be digital. ::Lighthouse in a Tree via ::Gizmodo

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