He has a skill set that makes something happen on an electronic device. He appears to have a vision of what 3-D printing should be. Look at the movie on Jobs. That's how innovation and progress is made in all types of societal endeavors.. money, engineering, medicine, aerospace, electronics, creative arts... takes someone with a vision, skill set and hard head that just grinds and grinds. This kid made an app. It shows that he can "want to" and then makes it happen.
Lots of people "want to do" something but don't have the know how, attention span, attention to detail and drive to create something from nothing.
Genius? eh.. over rated. Creating and follow through... seems to be on track . Then there's the "vision" thing. When I was 15 I had a vision of guitars, beer,biochemistry, long legged girls with blonde hair that were flexible and of loose morals.
I have a feeling that this kid just might change the use of 3-D printing for personal use. ...just maybe.
How right you are! I want to do things but I got old and lazy. I don't know what the boy's ideas are, but here's something I dream of. A method whereby a mist of vaporized material is sprayed within a 3D enclosure, and intersecting lasers harden the spray. A 3D object can be rapidly built up with this method, used in conjunction with other already established methods. Go ahead and patent my idea, as I'm too lazy but happy in my retirement. I don't like the speed of my 3D printer but I garden while waiting for it to print.