3D Printing has for years now been a poster child of the
technology industry. So much so, in fact, that it is one of the most
anticipated upcoming technologies, and has been for quite some time. One would
think that it would be a smash success with almost no effort, what with all the
hype over the technology's potential uses. But Quartz begs to differ. In the
article on the aforementioned website entitled "3D Printing is Not the
Miracle We Were Promised", author Mike Murray refutes the commonly held
belief that 3D printing technologies are the wave of the future.
Murray claims that the thing that most 3D printing devices of this era really excel at are, essentially, just demonstrations and showmanship. Most 3D printers here in the United States right now, at least that are privately owned, are used to make relatively insignificant nick-nacks and partial objects, and are rarely used in a productive fashion as they are advertised to be capable of doing.
(Photo by Makerbot)
Murray claims that the thing that most 3D printing devices of this era really excel at are, essentially, just demonstrations and showmanship. Most 3D printers here in the United States right now, at least that are privately owned, are used to make relatively insignificant nick-nacks and partial objects, and are rarely used in a productive fashion as they are advertised to be capable of doing.
Worse, 3D printing devices aren't even that efficient at what they currently can do. They are incredibly slow on the most part, and if your 3D printer is any faster than the current average, your bank account has most likely suffered for it. The printers can also suffer from inadequacies
in their abilities to realistically replicate your design. Remember that action figure you had as a kid that had a deformed arm because of a flaw in the molding process? If the time-honed and highly expensive and professional method of plastic casting, taken on by what was most likely a major conglomerate with millions of dollars of budget, could produce those misrepresentations so easily and commonly, imagine how much worse the ratio of misprinted items is on a small 3D printer designed for economical home use.
All this skepticism is currently being supported on Wall Street. The stocks of major producers of small 3D printers, such as Makerbot and 3D Systems are currently plummeting to some of the lowest numbers they've seen in years. It seems that the peak for these companies (at least so far) on the stock market was last year. The employees of these companies are quietly optimistic about a potential resuscitation of the market, but the current numbers are most certainly cause for concern.
So, is 3D Printing a promise left unfulfilled, or a technological late bloomer still yet to hit its stride?
I really think 3D printing is the next big thing, we are in the beginning stages of it right now. The most important thing is that people are educated about it and understand it. Once the understanding is there people will be more willing to pay higher prices, in the next three years I see this as becoming the next big thing!
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