Reply to post: Consumer device?

3D printers set for lift off? Yes, yes, yes... at some point in the future

My-Handle

Consumer device?

I'd be the first to admit that I like the idea of designing and building stuff, but when you're pricing a unit at multi-thousands of pounds / dollars, you're not really looking at a typical desktop product anymore. Even for hobbyists, machining tools like lathes and mills are priced in the hundreds of pounds range. It is likely easier to acquire the skill to use these kinds of tools than it would be to gain the kind of disposable income to buy a desktop 3D printer. Coupled with the fact that these devices are fairly limited in the materials they can actually print with (usually thermoplastics), they probably don't make much financial sense outside of businesses with rapid prototyping needs and the 'cool' factor isn't really enough to justify the price tag.

Reduce the price of the thing and / or increase the types of materials it can work with and it'll boom right enough. Until then, it is likely to remain a niche product.

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