Be careful about dismissing something as a toy, history is littered
with the remains of those who made that mistake, from steam shovel
makers about hydraulic diggers, to mainframe computer makers
about personal computers.
Tony
Too true! I apologize if I came off that way. It was not my
intention to be dismissive. I worded it very badly, it seems.
And I'm sorry.
Thank You all for your indulgence and thoughtful responses!
Education is always a good thing. Even one at a time. :)
Best of luck in your endeavors!!! And, thank you again!
Ron Yost
I didn't think you were being dismissive, it's usually hard to get your head
around something new.
A new idea either replaces something existing, or creates a new market (and
sometimes then wipes out an existing one).
Occasionally something is just 'right', like the compact disc. Since they
were seen as so much better than vinyl or cassettes, it wiped them off the
map in short order. An old marketing rules goes that something needs to be
10 times better than what's existing to do that.
Hexapods will probably create their own market, they are great at doing
'odd' stuff that are a pain on 3-axis mills. Whether they eventually
replace traditional machines remains to be seen. Same goes for the rapid
prototype machines.
Hydraulic diggers started like this. Derided and ignored by the steam &
cable makers, they started as small machines, like the Bobcats. They
created their own market for digging up peoples gardens. Eventually they
got bigger, and wiped out the competition.
60 years ago the idea of anybody needing a computer was seen as ridiculous.
Nobody could see why a business, let alone a person, would want one. Even
the computer manufacturers thought that!
I once worked for a company that provided telephone services. I said (about
8 years ago) that we should concentrate more on mobile services than
traditional landlines. My reasoning was that when the teenagers grew up,
they would have a mobile telephone, and never install a landline at home. I
was told that was silly. They missed the boat (& the $$$) on that one. I
now see newpaper articles astonished at the fact people are no longer
installing landlines. Ha!
Tony
