Current Events > Why didn't 3d printers take off?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I thought for sure they'd be the next big thing. I remember looking for investment options and everything.

But now, nothing, no one talks about them, no one uses them. What happened?

Not an expert, but I get the impression a lot of people didn't realize that you still need proper materials to make a 3D printer work (it can't just conjure up, say, steel, out of thin air) and as far as I can tell it's only really feasible on a small scale currently.
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Iirc they sold one and then the guy who bought it started 3d printing them and undercutting the maker.
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We use them all the time at work. They're just expensive and slow, but they get the job done. I'm sure in a few years they'll get huge.
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dr_marble posted...

Iirc they sold one and then the guy who bought it started 3d printing them and undercutting the maker.

Lol
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They are taking off in industry, student, academia ro hobbyst but as for home use like regular printer, i dont think regular people have much use for it anyway.

Say, you download a model for a jar, it is far cheaper to just buy a jar.

The things most regular people use are available very cheap.

While there stuff like complex machinery models that 3d printer can easily create without billion dollars of machinery, the usage are either limited to students/academia in general or hobbyst.

I dont think 3d printer will ever be an average house items like regular printer, but it is gaining alot of traction in other sectors.
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bover_87 posted...

Not an expert, but I get the impression a lot of people didn't realize that you still need proper materials to make a 3D printer work (it can't just conjure up, say, steel, out of thin air) and as far as I can tell it's only really feasible on a small scale currently.

you're wrong. it's a box of forbidden alchemy.
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I thought they did?

Obviously it's going to be a while before it gets to the point of being a common household device.

Lunaaaa posted...

I dont think 3d printer will ever be an average house items like regular printer

I kinda wonder how much longer even a normal 2D printer will be an average household item. I probably print like 1 thing per year and I have a few neighbours who occasionally come over to borrow my printer since they don't have one at all. World's definitely moving a lot more toward digital in general
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