Futurama is set in the 31st Century, but the technology shown in this episode is already in use. Bender wants to have a reproduction of Silicon Red’s resonator guitar, so he takes a photo of it. Actually, he would need several photos to convert them into a wireframe model as it is a tridimensional object.
Dr. Beeler uses the Make-O-Matic, a 3d printing machine using additive manufacturing technology, to reproduce the guitar. This revolutionary new technology can be used nowadays to print custom guitars and all kinds of objects.
Futurama: “Forty Percent Leadbelly” [Season 7, Episode 17]
Silicon Red -
♫ Then I shot him and stabbed
him and stole all his gold
and I tried on his face
while his body turned cold ♫
Bender - Lovely. Just lovely. New topic: Can I have your autograph, and also you tell me everything you know about folk singing, and I’ll take your guitar too?
Silicon Red – Old salmonella? Son, I ought to kill you for asking. We met doing hard time on a Mississippi chain gang. And she’d been with me through 30-odd convictions.
Bender - 30? You must be quite a bungling lowlife. Anyhow, about the guitar… [Silicon Red aims at him with a gun] Aw, come on! I can’t be a famous folk singer without a cool guitar. Can I at least get a photo? And before you answer that… [Takes a photo] (laughs) now I’ll just have someone duplicate your guitar. Thanks, sucker.
Silicon Red – (Laughs) You’re the sucker, sucker. See… with all Salmonella and me been through, her sound is unique. All your fancy technology will never be able to copy this guitar.
[...]
Beeler - Using my fancy technology, I can make an exact copy of this guitar.
Bender - Tell me, Dr. Beeler. Will I need to threaten you?
Beeler - Not at all. You see, nowadays we can take a unique and beautiful object, and easily reduce it to a formula for mass production. I call the process “science.” I’ll just need to locate that guitar image on your file system. [giggles] Whoa, that’s a lot of porn… Where’d you store the guitar picture?
Bender - I don’t know. I mainly hang out in here.
Beeler - Ah-ha, your folk singing folder. I’ll just double-kick on that. [grunts] Got it. Now I’ll convert that guitar image to a wire-frame model. There, like so. And send it wirelessly to my 3d printer. [Beeping] By laying down layer after layer of nano-plastic, It can turn your wildest dreams into ordinary reality.
Bender - Witchcraft! Sorcerer! Neat. So, how long will it take?
Beeler - Four or five hours.
Bender - Shall we adjourn to the porn folder?
