FTA:
- Reviewers have compared Autodesk to Google and their Spark software to Android before and I’m more convinced than ever that it’s an accurate assessment. Autodesk is not a new tech company, they are what they have always been, a software company. Creating a 3D printer, and a good one, is just a way to show off their software. When Google announced their phones a lot of people incredulously asked why a search engine would get into the electronics business. And now that Android phones dominate the world, and the Google software is virtually ubiquitous even on Apple machines, they have their answer.
I have no business spending $5k on a 3D printer. But Monoprice has theirs for $999 today and rather than regretting not spending a grand on a 3D printer I prefer to see why spending a grand on a 3D printer is far stoopider than not spending $5k on a 3D printer, if that makes sense.
Yeah, the article is from September. I hadn't seen it until now. Sue me.
I wonder how many people will have a 3D printer in 5 years. In 20 years? I doubt it will ever reach PC levels of adoption, much less mobile phones. But I can see it drastically changing manufacturing. I am sure there are plenty of components shipped about that could be printed as needed at a lower cost.
Definitely. edit/ps: for example, at some point this approach to building components will/should be integrated into buildings (homes and up). Just one of a really open ended set of applications. I think innovations in material science end of it is what will push it over.
Not many. Besides the fact that people can't afford it, you can look at it the same way you look at video game consoles. I downloadedFar Cry 4 for review on my PC a few weeks ago. I asked for a PS3 review code, but, ya know. It required me redownloading a bunch of .dlls, patching it, and getting the comparability and graphics settings to work. Then I had to figure out why I was getting a fatal error on start-up, and fix that. Two hours of work. Did you get it on a console? Put the disk in, MAYBE wait for a patch, which is applied by just letting the console do its thing, and get to playing. Far Cry 4 looks better on my PC. But I'd RATHER just play it on my PS3. Same thing for 3D Printers, I think. People will always appreciate ease of use over doing it themselves, unless they consider themselves specialists. It's why consoles still have a market today, even among the constant cries of the "PC Master Race."
Maybe Apple can buy a bunch and 3D print the components they need to make the 160GB iPod classic so I can buy another for a reasonable price! grumble grumble
Not just traditional industry My brother owns one. He's always willing to sell a few parts if someone asks for them. I think that the hobbyist who owns one of these is going to be a middle ground between the manufacturing industry and the tinkerer, and it's likely to enable types of small businesses that we've never seen before. I think you're right that, at least in its current state, it probably won't reach PC levels of adoption. That said, it's hard to watch one of them in action without imagining what you could make with it. They may not be ubiquitous in the coming years, but they won't be uncommon either.But I can see it drastically changing manufacturing. I am sure there are plenty of components shipped about that could be printed as needed at a lower cost.
Good job, Autodesk!The printer has no default material setting, does not require proprietary materials or cartridges and the software is completely hackable and customizable.
Dremel's is also $999. Dremel and Monoprice both print at 100µm resolution, while Autodesk's is 50µm. I'm hesitant to buy one from Autodesk. Considering the pricing scheme for the rest of their products, I'm afraid they'll start charging $1k/year for the software or something…Monoprice has theirs for $999