This was the main thrust of a recent conference in Budapest, organised by the Singularity University, a Silicon Valley-based learning institution, founded by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil, and sponsored by Google, Nokia, the X Prize Foundation, Genentech and others.

By 2020, Ray Kurzweil predicts that we’ll start to see 3D printing of clothing. This will create a new market for “open source” apparel that can be downloaded and printed at incredibly low cost, as well as the possibililty for piracy. In the premium market, “people will always pay for the latest designs,” said Kurzweil, although business models will surely have to evolve. […]