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Ewloe, United Kingdom
Writing, tweeting, debating and occasionally getting a little over-excited about 3D Printing. But always aiming to keep it real!

Wednesday 7 November 2012

3D Printing Avarice


Been a while since I was here, but just need to vent so please bear with!

Read this earlier and it made me grumpy.

The suggestive bias made me cross not to mention that there are plenty of questions, there is no new information and definitely no answers.

I think it is safe for us all to assume today that 3D Printing is here, that the sector is going to grow significantly, that there are business opportunities available with money to be made and that there are many, many applications of the technology that have not been thought of yet. Some of these applications will be for the benefit of many and some will be to the detriment of a few, personally I still think there is a killer app to come that will prove to be the tipping point. It is all going to play out one way or another, but it’s getting harder to swallow the financial predictions, which once upon a time I saw as a positive indicator. I suppose they still are, but these days they just serve to wind me up because it just whiffs of greed!

Does your heart soar or sink when you read that the market will be worth x billions in 5 years or xx billions in 10 years etc? The articles are cynically directed at VCs and similar, trying to get their attention, bring it all about faster than it otherwise might.

No one actually knows.  

And really, apart from the greedy, who cares?

I much prefer stories that centralise 3D printing people and/or applications and/or innovation, but that’s just me.

I know money makes the world go round. I know I can't change/stop it. I know this type of post makes very little difference. But, saying it out loud does just make me feel a little bit better! 

On a happier note – I have started my Christmas shopping and most of my f&f are getting 3D printed gifts this year :-)

5 comments:

  1. Hi Rachel

    Good comments, you should come back here more often, I'm thinking the same after reading it. It's the sort of article I wish I had not read. The industry will grow and people will want to profit from it, without a care about what the technology is or how it will evolve.

    But greedy fingers will get burnt, and the general public may not want the sorts of 3D printers an opportunist company will first thrust upon them due to VC funding and wanting to take market share.

    So as you have said before, bring on the disillusionment and see what comes out the other end.

    Did you notice they even spelt the name wrong of the only company I would call a 3D printer version of Apple - "The margins are also fatter than those of Stratesys"

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  2. Completely agree with you.
    What will do a difference will be - I think - the spirit behind the present and future leading companies of this market.
    Hope it won't attract too many found & sell "entrepreneurs"...

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  3. Who will be the Apple of the 3D printing space? It's an empty metaphor, as you can demonstrate by substituting another metaphor that's equally valid--and equally conjectural.

    Even as society becomes educated about 3D printers, it's just as likely they will quiescently fall into a niche that's more akin to sewing machines than music players.

    Most everyone knows what a sewing machine is and what it does. Today's sewing machines are increasingly affordable and sophisticated. Yet the average home doesn't even use one for making minor repairs, let alone customizing their own fashions.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete

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