To see a Reprap born in every school..

Thats the dream: I show up with a parent, print the parts together with the kids, whip out the nuts and bolts, put it all together, and leave them to it. They get a taste for it, learn the requisite skills, start making more and more interesting things, one day they're the innovative entrepreneurs leading the new industrial revolution, making the internet of things come to life.

A few years ago 3d printers were just a dream, the object of desire that embodied the promise of being able to make whatever you wanted in your home. Although thats still not true for your average Joe, its much more tangible now - Joe public can already log onto www.3dhubs.com and print a spare part for his fridge more quickly and cheaply than repair or replacement through the fridge supplier. 

I would like the future of reprapping to be equal. Spare and repair is one killer app for a Reprap and up to now for me has been the most fruitful use of my printer. Prototypes, schnick-schnack, jewellery, toys etc. also has its rightful place in the balance of future printing power. The other third should, and hopefully will be the same reason I built a Reprap and didn't just buy an Ultimaker - innovation. Perhaps both the most important application, and the most forgotten, is the improvement of Repraps from generation to generation with the ultimate goal of a Star Trek style replicator at the end. 

I think the best way to get iteration over generations to lead to improvement is to inject some competitive edge and how better to do that than to get young fresh minds interested and obsessed? The enthusiasts of today are mostly in their 30s who understand the potential and are having a good time making and breaking and moving and shaking. But the real revolution will begin within the minds of the young. If we are digital natives and are all changing the internet and the ways we live it now, those who do the equivalent - the Mark Zuckerbergs of the internet of things - are now in their teens, or not even. 

I want to help them achieve their as yet unknown dreams. I know that doing so is worthwhile so I'm going to give it my best shot. The inevitability of the advancement of technology within reach of virtually all of us is generally accepted I think, even if not out front, open and consciously by all.

I built a Reprap because I don't want to be left out of the revolution in which the means of production are truly put in the hands of the people. 

I want to help the kids who are going to design the future because changing the world this way is good for everyone.