Why the 3D printing revolution won’t happen in your garage

Re:Why the 3D printing revolution won’t happen in your garage by stephengillie on Wednesday August 22, 2012 @01:02PM (#4418327)

The funny thing about new technologies is how people find new uses for them once they own them. Microwaves come to mind as an incredibly popular limited-scope device (all it does is reheat food) whose function just duplicates a more common kitchen appliance (oven/stove/range).

The big thing with 3d printing will be the little things: cups, forks, plates, bowls, battery covers, buttons, dice, car interior parts (dashboard panels, clips, knobs, dials, etc). Maybe it's not interesting if everything you own is new & you don't have kids, but these will come in very handy replacing lost and hard-to-find parts for fixing up old things.

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Re:Why the 3D printing revolution won’t happen in your garage by vannevar on Wednesday August 22, 2012 @06:16PM (#4419927)

But those 'little things' are precisely the things that are generally cheap and easy to replace with the real thing, rather than some approximation made of resin. Sure there are old parts that are hard to find, but that alone probably won't justify everyone having the capacity to make their own. Jigsaws have been around forever, but not everyone has a one, and they can make a lot of things with more versatility in materials than a Makerbot.

I would agree that if there is a killer use for a Makerbot, it's probably something the device was never intended for.

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