IN 2009, a TV advert for the iPhone introduced us to the idea that 鈥渢here鈥檚 an app for that鈥�. And now there is. Just about any task that can be made easier with a smartphone and a bit of software has been turned into an app.
But if you need to lubricate a bicycle chain, fix a leaky pipe or try out some paint colours, the only app store available is an old-fashioned shop stocking a narrow range of products made by traditional chemical companies.
That could change. The rise of 3D printing creates the possibility of apps that can make chemicals (see 鈥淢ake your own drugs with a 3D printer鈥�). The inventors see it as a way of delivering existing products to far-flung places, but there is nothing to stop enterprising chemists from writing apps for novel products and selling them direct to consumers, much as musicians use websites like Bandcamp to bypass the music industry.
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聯There is nothing to stop enterprising chemists from writing apps and selling them to us聰
That would subject the chemical industry to the same kind of internet-fuelled disruption that other industries, notably publishing and music, have been through in recent years. But publishing and music have arguably become more creative and attractive as a result, so that is something to encourage.
Chemical apps obviously raise some concerns that don鈥檛 apply to digital ones. Consumer chemicals are subject to health and safety testing; a similar regime would have to be developed for the products of chemical apps. And it is not hard to envisage apps for illegal recreational drugs. But existing laws should be able to cope.
Just as music and publishing companies initially pushed back against digital technologies, established chemical firms won鈥檛 like it. They will raise legitimate concerns about intellectual property theft. But again, the law should be able to keep up 鈥� and companies that accept and use the new technology will likely prosper.
The biggest barrier to chemical apps is that most people don鈥檛 own 3D printers 鈥� yet. Software apps didn鈥檛 take off until smartphones were commonplace. But as the price comes down, the technology gets better and the applications continue to expand, the much vaunted 3D printing revolution may yet come to pass. Then there really will be an app for that.