Really? What do you use a 3D printer for? Last time I checked they were still imprecise to the point of being useless for real world jobs. What printer/material do you use?
Examples: * Invisalign makes custom, clear braces using the SLA 3DP process.
* Custom jewelry is made by 3D printing wax/resin parts for investment casting, and a lot of mass production jewelry molds use 3DP for creating their initial master pattern.
* The aerospace / military uses tons of the SLS/FDM processes for weapons systems
* F1 teams use metal 3DP to make titanium honeycomb housings for assemblies like transmissions that are light and strong.
* We can print customized implants instead of using standard sizes (would you want an "average" knee socket implant?).
* so many more...
Yea, 3DP (and digital fabrication in general) is only just getting started, and there are TONS are of practical applications once we get people educated on how it.
*Full disclosure: my startup, CloudFab, has an API and software tools for designing / sourcing 3D printed products on demand.
In some ways it is incredibly satisfying. In other ways it's disappointing. It's pretty clear this particular device will never pay for itself in terms of what i get out of it. I could buy a lot of plastic tweezers and cups for 1k. I imagine it's like using an apple 1 to fiddle with recipes. A box of index cards is cheaper faster and easier. I think the parallels between people building these things because they want one, and early PC's are pretty clear. Not many people can afford 30k for a really nice metal sintering system. But we can swing 1k for a system that will let us print plastic cups.
To my simple simple mind, objects are getting more diverse every day. There are pretty obvious issues involved with routing and storage when you have more diversity in size shape purpose etc. 3d printing can, in some ways simplify that process by sending just a few raw materials rather than thousands of completed objects. Also the warehouse or retail space taken up by thousands of objects could be used a bit more efficiently with raw materials.
i don't think 3d printing alone will be good enough. the reprap style just won't get the resolution. there's likely a good solution with 3d printing to rough in parts and a cutter to follow along the print head and sand down/polish the rough shape created by the printer. maybe some other technology will appear. maybe the powder style will get a lot cheaper.
I think in the next few years there will be a small shop revolution sort of like the desktop printing revolution. a good, reliable system somebody can produce custom stuff with is going to come about sooner or later.
Perhaps a rental place that prints out "congratulations bob" cups for bob's retirement, then melts them back down when they're returned. That seems pretty doable with the ABS i've been playing with. i haven't turned printed objects back into filament, but that is just one device away.
So, yes, a 1k 3d printer kinda sucks. but my cupcake is the grandfather of something amazing. Also, it's mine. Hackers from the 80's needed work or school accounts, or needed to build their own machine. i'm spoiled, i grew up having a PC and so i want my own manufacturing.
Sure, snap-fits need to be pretty tight to work well, but do you really think people will care if their earrings are 0.05" out of round?
The main issue now is really materials and processing cost - it's expensive to get the materials because they're engineered to work with a machine, and there are still things like finish quality, color, etc. that need to improve, but there are tons are good products that can get around these constraints.