One of the most prevalent images in the mass conciousness about 3D printing is the image of a small MakerBot/Solidoodle appliance on a counter top in every home in America. It's not hard to see why this image spreads so readily. But I suspect the analogy people are intuitively using to forecast this image, namely the historical trajectory of the inkjet printer, fails us at some point in the process.
What I matters to this image of 3D printers as household objects is really a couple of linked things: advances in materials for additive manufacturing and the overall ease-of-use.
I don't think many people really dispute the need for a broader array of materials as feedstock to make 3D printing realize its very-hyped potential to fabricate most any object that can be designed. Advances are clearly being made in this arena, but a think much more needs to developed to make these appliances truly versatile enough for the average household to become a must-have for each family.
On the ease-of-use side, we can in fact use the analogy of the inkjet printer to consider what needs to develop in order for 3D printers to be used by every household. The modern, ubiquitous inkjet printer requires virtually no manual maintenance on the part of users, they are cheap to acquire, their feedstocks are widely available, and putting them to work requires very little technical know how on the part of users: just being able to write a Word document or double-click on a picture positions the user to making quick and easy use of their printer.
Essentially, 3D printers, as part of an ecosystem of allied services and products, will need to become equally easy for the average non-techy, non-maker enthusiast to use before this particular slice of technology can become ubiquitous at the level of the household.
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