10 trends

Already, you can design a circuit-board in your browser, place an order and have it shipped to you. You can do this online, in your spare time. In the past we relied on large volumes to offset high cost – and therefore created high barriers to entry for new competitors. Launching a physical product has traditionally taken a long time. No longer.

Indigogo is a great example - it's funded by interested parties and products are crowdsourced. Batches are now smaller. Niche products are suddenly viable. The cost of a prototype is almost nothing. Ten years ago, you would remortgage your house to pioneer your invention. In 10 years time, the product development process will have matured and cheap prototyping will be the normal way of doing things.

Companies that rely on scale and 'being the big guys' will be cannibalised. Craft cars are already being built. Sous-vide machines used to be only affordable by huge restaurants. Now you can pay $200 for an Indigogo sous-vide machine. All the tools that were only available to corporates are now democratised. 3d printing chemicals radically change the way drugs are distributed and as a result disrupts our current methods of research and legislation.