Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

What's Holding Back 3-D Printing

Posted by Soulskill on from the my-3-D-glasses-don't-seem-to-help dept.

An anonymous reader writes "An article at MIT's Technology Review makes the case that the complexity of the design tools behind 3-D printing are what's holding it back from widespread adoption. Many of the devices are indeed prohibitively expensive, but the inability for your average person — or even your average tech hobbyist — to pick it up and start experimenting is an even bigger obstacle. 'That means software innovation could be more important to 3-D printing than gradual improvements in the underlying technology for shaping objects. That technology is already 30 years old and is widely used in industry to create prototypes, molds, and, in some cases, parts for airplanes. ... Although additive manufacturing allows for designs that can't be made easily in any other way — such as complex shapes with internal cavities — so far, companies have mostly used 3-D printing to create prototypes or models of familiar products.'"

4 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Not enough publicity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tech sites like Slashdot are ignoring innovations like 3D printing, bitcoin, Raspberry Pi.

    1. Re:Not enough publicity by sanman2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What rubbish - with everyone and his brother being a programmer nowadays, anything new always ends up with a call to develop more software for it. When all you have is a hammer, then every problem is made to look like a nail. Software is most certainly not the bottleneck. There are plenty of 3D modeling programs out there, and a number of them have features for solid modeling.

      The real hurdle to 3D printing is in being able to produce parts that don't look like rejects from the Lego factory. High-end 3D printers that can produce high-quality objects command an astronomical price. Software is the least of the problem here.

  2. For me... It's the cost of good printers by Karmashock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't really want a reprap or similar printer. The print quality is too low. And the cost of the high end machines is prohibitive.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:For me... It's the cost of good printers by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't really want a reprap or similar printer. The print quality is too low.

      The quality is improving. If you haven't checked out a 3D printer in the last year, you might be surprised. But I think TFA is wrong. The design tools are not what is holding back 3D printing. My son is in third grade, and he used a CAD program to design some parts for his science project. My daughter has designed and printed furniture for her dollhouse. It is not hard.

      What is keeping 3D printing from being more of a hobbyist niche, is that most people just don't have any compelling need for random plastic parts. So far there is no killer app.