3D Printing Naysayers: Why 3D will fail (according to them)

Being increasingly on the front-lines of 3D printing – I have to deal with the challenges from people who say I’m wasting my time, 3D printing will never happen and why don’t I get a real job with some big company. Ironically I’ve been told this for YEARS, when I first got into 3D by potential customers back over 15 years so at this point, I’ve learned to trust my instinct over what naysayers have to tell me. So, according to 3D printing naysayers, here are the top 5 reasons why 3D printing will fail and why they are WRONG.

1: 3D Printing is too expensive

I totally agree that 3D printing is too expensive, even the Cube/MakerBot/Solidoodle require an investment in materials alone that is exponentially more than buying the “same item” at the local Walmart. But one BIG mistake that 3D printing naysayers make is assuming things will remain this way.

The first computer my parents bought was an Apple II for 5K, my first computer was an Apple IIci which was even more expensive as I needed a monitor etc… today, my iPod has more computing power than these two machines COMBINED and cost me only a few hundred dollars. Although 3D printing started industrially about 30 years ago, things have dramatically improved in speed and cost wise. So yes, 3D printing is expensive NOW but it won’t be this way a few years from now.

2: 3D Printed models suck!

Again, I agree! Most of the 3D printed stuff out there available really does suck. It may not work, the resolution is too low and it’s usefulness is questionable. But one BIG mistake that 3D printing naysayers make is assuming things will remain this way.

Take a look at the stuff coming-out of Freedom of Creation or even ShapeWays – I know, bloody expensive – but what it shows you is that there is incredible potential yet to be unlocked. Maybe you never bought a Ferrari but technological discoveries made when this was designed have made their way into even the cheapest of cars, like airbags, ABS breaking and windshields that don’t blow-up in your face when you hit a rock. Mostly the stuff you see now is showing potential possible with this cool technology – things that are IMPOSSIBLE to make using any other technology out there! If this stuff doesn’t float your boat, just say so – don’t assume that just because you don’t like something that the products made with this technology are doomed to oblivion – if that were the case, we’d all be making rock wheels in caves still!

3: 3D Printing is too slow!

Agreed! When a selling features is measured in mm/hour I totally agree that things are way too slow! Looking at a 3D printer doing its work is like watching grass grow… even with the million dollar machines out there! But one BIG mistake that 3D printing naysayers make is assuming things will remain this way.

I remember when my parents bought their first computer, the Apple II I mentioned about earlier. It was a dot matrix and is was BLAZING fast at almost a minute per page! You want color? Well… go to the local shop to get it laser printed using an uncalibrated machine that makes all your yellows orange and blues a sick shade of green! Oh yeah, when I made 3D renders with my Apple IIci back in the day, I measured progress in half-day intervals for something a fraction of the size of HD and without all the FX I put in my animations now. Point is… things change for the better as the tech and marketplace open-up.

4: 3D Printers are TOO heavy and big

I tend to dismiss the very “cheap” Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) based machines (plastic extruders as I call them) because they aren’t really REAL 3D printers. The material is prone to warpage, shrinkage and errors build onto themselves easily. Removing support materials using wire snips isn’t my idea of “fun”. It’s like comparing a bicycle to a Porsche, both will get you from A to B but the power, ease, comfort and joy that comes from a Porsche isn’t comparable to a bicycle. I’m not saying that FDM isn’t cool, what I am saying is when the other technologies drop in price, FDM is on the same road as dot-matrix printers (short of a major technological revolution, you won’t be able to even buy them anymore but at yard sales).

Modern 3D printers ARE big and relatively heavy, if you want a quality 3D printer make sure you spend a few hours a day in the gym to build-up the muscles necessary to drag it around but like your fridge that is also BIG AND HEAVY, a 3D printer isn’t something you drag around town with you on errands. Depending on the material you use, the end-product can actually be lighter than the equivalent you buy at the store!

5: I’m scared!

Why do highly skilled engineers with YEARS of experience dismiss 3D printers? Because it requires them to think in new ways where their only limit is their own imagination which they now realize, has dulled overtime due to lack of use. Retail stores have the most to lose (and gain) when 3D printing goes mainstream – it will be as the Economist stated, the Third Industrial Revolution. It will be a MASSIVE revolution, huge fortunes will be made or lost depending where you stand on the spectrum. If you have the skills and ambition, you’ll make a killing if not, like previous revolutions, you’ll be marginalized and forgotten. THIS IS SCARY! But you can either get on the train or be left behind. As for me, I want to be the conductor! I’ve lived the past few years with nothing but a backpack with all my belongings… I travel light, smart and without fear towards the unknown darkness that lies ahead of me.

What we really have here is a failure to imagine

Most people work 9-5 in their cubical, go back home and watch TV with a beer in one hand and their “better half” in the other. They have lost the ability to imagine anything beyond their understanding, reasoning or abilities of comprehension. This isn’t a dig, it’s just a fact that most of us prefer to be lazy and be GIVEN stuff rather than have to figure it out for ourselves. Why do people buy cars? Because they don’t want to build their own! Why do people go on vacation to the same places year after year? Because it’s “safe”. Why do people buy books instead of publishing their own? Because it’s EASIER!