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Gartner Says 3D Printers Will Cost Less Than $2,000 By 2016
colinneagle writes "Widespread adoption of 3D printing technology may not be that far away, according to a Gartner report predicting that enterprise-class 3D printers will be available for less than $2,000 by 2016. 3D printers are already in use among many businesses, from manufacturing to pharmaceuticals to consumers goods, and have generated a diverse set of use cases. As a result, the capabilities of the technology have evolved to meet customer needs, and will continue to develop to target those in additional markets, Gartner says."
And 640k should be enough for anyone.
People like you predicted no on would have a use for a computer in the home.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Waiting for it to be a service at e.g. my local Walgreen's (as lab-quality photo printing is today). Doesn't need to be in my house, just convenient.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." --Groucho Marx
There are a ton of 3D printers on the market right now for less thank $2k, many for less than $1k. They are fully assembled machines too, not just a DIY hobby toys. I don't really understand how this article is news.
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I think the keyword you missed was "enterprise class", implying that its prints will be of higher quality. Or that it has a voice module and regular printer attached to spew our corporate bullshit and white papers.
"To prevent this day from getting any worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD THING" 1GJU8xLuDKDxEs4KLf8fAGyptoDsqvEsBT
Gartner don't know a fucking thing except how to sell useless and obvious information to businesses.
-- Braden's law of data: All data spends some of its lifetime in an excel spreadsheet.
So your point is..because paper documents have gone out of fashion...all physical objects are also useless? Or do you think paper printers aren't cheap and ubiquitous ? I built a 3D printer, and I don't print toys/models.
I broke a wheel on my dishwasher? I just drew one up and printed it, good as new. I broke a handle on my fileting knife..I printed one nicer than the original which has a fish gut scooper on the handle. I've printed brackets for my truck, pieces for the printer itself, and if I got really enterprising, I could use the printed plastic to make a lost-plastic casting and cast myself metal versions of anything I wanted. (See here: http://3dtopo.com/lostPLA/ )
My printer was under a thousand start to finish but that was self built so a lot more work than something you just unbox. (Mendelmax 2.0 from makerstoolworks.com if anyone cares(no affil))
Anyways, does it make pure financial sense? Maybe, maybe not. Does the ability to make any physical object that fits within my printers dimensions within a few minutes or hours make it worth it for me? Definitely. Some things take weeks when you need them now, sometimes you need to try 10 versions of something before it would make sense to pay for a final high quality one to be made. Sometimes its an object not important enough to spend the time and money on if you need to send away for it, but it would be neat to have. There are a million reasons I think 3D printers can work for the average Joe and see regular use.
It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
An "enterprise class" 3D printer is one that will be able to make 3D models from descriptions such as "synergetic, cloud-integrated proactive out-of-the-box social media mindshare ". It will be able to take corporate bullshit as valid input and turn it into accurate 3D models. Essentially it just prints a hardcoded model of a dildo every time.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
Oh, and this replicator was less than 2000$.
Lets be honest, we barely use our home printers. I'm glad I have it, but I bought my color laser in 2009 and have never changed the toners. I print everything to PDF. I have no desire to own a 3D printer because I see no use for it, the little models and small items I've seen people print could have been bought for a few dollars rather than buying a $2,000+ printer and the plastic it uses. If I really need a 3D model I imagine paying someone a few bucks on ebay or craiglist to print custom items. Sorry 3D printer makers, but these will always be for a very niche market, never mainstream.
Turn in your nerd card! You can only print stuff ordered that others designed. If you design yourself, you need to prototype. This is no different from making software versus using software. Everybody who makes software needs a device to work on, instead of only consume, everybody who makes objects needs a printer to try it on, instead of a service that delivers prints at home.
What you claim is hence: "I don't make or design stuff, so I don't need a 3D printer." Yes, but there are many people out there that do make things, probably more than there are software coders. 3D design is also easier than programming, so schools will quicker pick this up than adding coding to the curriculum.
This is indeed not mainstream, but most houses have kids at a certain time, so a 3D printer will be handy, and if people are fed up waiting for a package or the 3D services are not that good, buying one will be an option. In the end, it will come down to ease of use of the printer. I'm able to service my 3D printer, 95% of the population would not manage with the printers in use today. My first order to shapeways took 2 weeks before they notified it could not be printed, and refunded me. Second order took 1.5 weeks to arrive.