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is cautious. He warns that although consumers are eagerly paying high prices for
beautiful 3D printed custom goods, “most consumers will never own or oper-
ate a machine to produce these products. Instead, they will go to Shapeways,
Amazon, or to another service or storefront to purchase these products. Most
will not know, or even care, how the products were made—no different from
the way they now purchase products.”
2
Yet there are hints of growth potential. 3D Systems annual report stated that
between 2010 and 2011, revenue from sales of mid- and small-sized personal
and professional-grade (not industrial-grade) 3D printers increased about 40
percent from the year before. Industry-leading companies like 3D Systems,
MakerBot, and PP3DP are investing heavily to create consumer-friendly plat-
forms and products to entice users. Outside the commercial world, a growing
Maker community buys and builds home-scale 3D printers and shares innova-
tive design iles and free advice with the world. Small artisan-style businesses
can earn a living by designing and selling custom 3D printed custom machine
parts or jewelry or
objets d'art
.
Someday, the technological limitations and barriers that discourage every
day use will gradually diminish. The key is to make 3D printing technolo-
gies more fun, more social, and of course easier to use. Such an approach is
reminiscent of Apple's early consumer strategy. A few decades ago, when per-
sonal computing was just coming into the mainstream, Steve Jobs explained
why regular people liked the Macintosh. “Most people have no concept of how
an automatic transmission works, yet they know how to drive a car. You don't
have to study physics to understand the laws of motion to drive a car.” When
the 3D printing world comes up with its own killer app and creates a vibrant
user-friendly, end-to-end platform, the market will explode.
Connecting artisan and mass production
Science iction writer Poul Anderson was reputed to have said, “I have yet
to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in
the right way, did not become still more complicated.” Predicting future
markets for 3D printed goods and services is an equally daunting task. It's
dificult—no, impossible—to offer a few crisp words that sum up potential
new business models that offer good, fast, and cheap products or services
to their customers.
