People Often Deride Game Changing Technology as 'a Toy' (medium.com)

Steven Sinofsky, former President of the Windows Division at Microsoft, has cataloged how often game-changing technologies have been derided as toys. Some of the things he has included in the list include a PC, C programming, PC networking, GUI, color screen, AI, and internet video. He writes: As many have recognized, when inventions and innovations first appear they are often (always) labeled as "toys" or "incapable" of doing "real work" or providing "real entertainment." Of course, many new inventions don't work out the way inventors had hoped, though quite frequently it is just a matter of timing and the coming together of a variety of circumstances. It can be said that being labeled a toy is necessary, but not sufficient, to become the next big thing. This got me thinking about all the conferences, trip reports, and new products I have looked at over many years. Sure turns out that a huge number of things in my own career were labeled as toys -- not just by me, but by an industry at large. Check out the list on Medium.

Comments

They laughed at Columbus....

[DerekLyons]

They laughed at Columbus - but they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

[citation needed]

[bigHairyDog]

This article is just a list of game-changing technologies coupled to unsourced assertions that these were derided as toys when they were first introduced.

I don't recall a widespread opinion that color monitors, sound cards, digital cameras, wireless networking or AI were "toys" when first introduced. If anything, I recall and endless stream of over-hyped articles about how they heralded the second coming of Christ.

Re:Windows...

[Progman3K]

When I first started programming, I dreamed of owning a Mac.
I couldn't afford one, so I got a PC and learned about programming DOS.

When Windows came around, I bristled when people would tell me "It's just a fad, a toy"

When first being exposed to linux, I told others "It's just a toy" and laughed that it had so much ground to make up to be anything like Windows.

When I switched to linux, I realized that it was Windows and the pre-OSX Mac that were toys.

I suppose I'll be saying the same thing again some day...

Re:3D printers

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

By definition a tool used for a hobby is also a toy.

Really? Who's definition is that? Does your hammer become a toy if you repair something in your house with it? You should look up the definition for the word "toy". A hobby is not "playing" with something.

That is kind of strange since the lowest cost Stratasys, the Mojo, can do 0.178mm layers.

It's a Stratasys uPrint Plus. In the specifications page, it says "Layer thickness: .254 mm (.010 in.) or .330 mm (.013 in.)"

This also brings up the question of how hard is it to "properly calibrate" and how long does that celebration last? If it takes hours of setup to print one item it is a toy.

It depends. If it takes hours of setup every time you print one item, it's just an unreliable tool, but still not a toy. If it takes hours of setup to properly calibrate once in a while, it's just normal wear and tear. We're talking about fractions of millimetres here.

Sure, if you compare low quality prints done by a hobbyist and the same prints using similar equipment by a service the hobbyist will always be cheaper. You have to pay something for not doing it yourself. There are quite a few services that use technologies other than FDM. I was referring to companies like Shapeways and Quickparts.

Of course the quality from higher-end 3D printers will be much better, but so will the cost. If we're talking precision alone, an FDM from Stratasys won't stand a chance against a Polyjet from the same company.

But comparing the output quality of a Stratasys FDM vs a well-calibrated RepRap? You'd be surprised which one you'd pick and the price difference between the two.