He said it was a hype bubble. Were computers a hype bubble when they were the size of entire buildings? Or later when you had to assemble them yourself and program them with toggle switches? Fortunately, a few people had the vision and patience to keep pushing the technology forward.

Hype means excessive claims - 3D printing guys right now are claiming the RepRap can do useful things for average people, and that's just not the case. Even the commercial machines, like on Shapeways, only produce tchotchkes.

DEC wasn't wrong about the "cloud" - just way too early and in the wrong environment. RepRap clones are at this point now.

A better analogy might be the early PCs sold as kits and targeted at hobbyists, which is basically what this Kickstarter is funding.