Two-thirds of the public would leave design to the professionals

Two-thirds of people in the UK say they would rather leave design issues to the professionals, with 20 per cent saying they want more input in the design of their household items, according to a new survey.

 

3D printing
3D printing

The poll, carried out by the Design Museum and Ipsos MORI, shows that 66 per cent of people would rather leave design to the professionals, and would eschew the opportunity to customise or 3D print their own products.

The survey also shows that nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) of people know very little or nothing about 3D printers, and only 6 per cent of people say they are interested in owning a 3D printer.

Skills and techniques including 3D printing will become part of design and technology teaching in the National Curriculum, with the Government bringing the new programme in from 2014.

In terms of using 3D printers, the 35 per cent of people said it was a good thing that people will be able to make everyday objects and spare parts at home, but an almost equal number (32 per cent) were concerned about people 3D printing guns and knives.

Ben Page, chief executive of Ipsos MORI, says, ‘Britain is divided into two tribes – those concerned that new technologies are destroying memory and knowledge, and unhappy with their pace of life, and those who embrace it as a powerful enabler of knowledge and who are comfortable with their busy lives.’

The poll was conducted by interviewing 994 people across the UK.

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  • Rob Andrews November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    As the head of MORI, you’d have thought that Ben Page would have avoided joining the dots on half a dozen bits of only very loosely linked bits of data to draw a sweeping and unsustantiable conclusion.

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