The most recent example of this idea of duplication as opposed to original generation is the modern phenomenon of three-dimensional or 3D printing. There has been a huge amount of interest following 3D printing as it has transcended from a futuristic figment of the imagination to a shelf-stocked product in a number of years and can be purchased today from just €230. The incredibly innovative sensation that is 3D printing is seen to be completely ahead of its time and to have come out of nowhere. In the 1980s and 1990s however, viewers of the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” regularly saw Patrick Stewart procure hot tea from a “replicator,” which generated his tea — cup and all — instantly on demand. Even then, such technology
