Mattel Is Using 3D Printing to Resurrect an Old Hit | Hacker News Reader

Mattel Is Using 3D Printing to Resurrect an Old Hit

fortune.com

47 pointsbane20 comments

Tengential but: sometimes I wonder how websites like these survive or even exist.

Reading an article on Fortune is hellish: ads trying to load, flash trying to activate, huge black banner with outsize logo (80% empty space), another banner linking to other sites of the network, big link banner to the left, ad underneath, and finally you get a tiny, cramped square on the screen to read your article.

Who reads this?

(In any case, a 3D printer at that price is pretty damn cool. Kids will grow up in a totally different world when they can 3D print toys at home, on demand.)

> Who reads this?

Print ads still are the bulk of Time, Inc.'s revenue. With the race to the bottom (as in quality) for online ad selling, we are merely reaping the results of monetizing online publications through selling (lots of) screen real estate.

Buzzfeed's model is very interesting. Attract traffic virally (You won't believe what happened next) to subsidize real investigative journalism. Similar to using ads to support foreign desks.

http://www.iop.harvard.edu/how-buzzfeed-parisian-cafe

Don't forget h1 text reflowing and scroll bars appearing when you move the mouse between the left column and the main section!

Animated ads like the ones on this site are what made me start using adblockers years ago, I literally can't read the text when they're on the page.

Indeed.

I basically cannot get either Business Insider or Huffington Post to load on my laptop unless I have an Ad Blocker installed.

Sounds like your browser is trying to do you a favor. Does it keep you from loading Slate or Gawker too?

Those are sluggish, but at least they load.

The most interesting thing about this in my opinion is that their software is only for iOS and Android, at least for now. No Windows/desktop option. Makes total sense IMHO.

Cory Doctorow's Makers is becoming a reality.

Once again, I get a reminder of why I really need to start reading some Doctorow.

A 3D printer at $299 is pretty amazing. If love to see examples of the quality of the items it produces.

Kudos for them if they are embracing this wholeheartedly

Not sure if kids will have the patience to wait 8 hours for a print out compared to a few minutes with the original version.

Hmm, children chew on toys. Is 3D printing safe in that regard?

I'd be much more concerned with the printing exhaust.

e.g. http://3dprintingindustry.com/2015/10/28/toxic-abs-pla-fumes...

ABS and PLA are already heavily used in making toys, so they'd be no more dangerous than any other toy on the market.

The problem is the voids - tiny gaps in the 3d printed layers provide nice reservoirs for bacteria growth.

Except that mechanical strength of the toys is less when 3D printed than when injection moulded and so pieces are more likely to break off when chewed?

I'm sure this will have an age range of like 8 years old and up where chewing on random things is less of a problem.

Is chewing on injection molded toys safe?

I found a thing maker in my grandmothers attic - it was awesome.

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