We’ve been covering 3D printing for quite some time now, perhaps six years, and in that time we’ve seen many promising developments and a gradual progression towards a mythical, ultimate personal 3D printer. We’re not close to such a Star Trek-like device by any measure, but progress continues.
The public, on the other hand, has not been watching 3D printing for very long. It’s only in the past year that the technology has started to reach the general public, who, while they’ve now heard about it, really don’t understand it.
This lack of understanding manifests itself in knee-jerk reactions to new 3D printing developments. We were particularly concerned about a headline in Desert News for an article about Anjan Contractor’s 3D printed food proposal for NASA. The headline read:
The future of food? 3D printing moves beyond guns and artwork
Really? That’s all that happens with 3D printing? Disappointing.
This is a technology that’s been around for decades. 3D printed food experiments have taken place for at least five years. It has been used to prototype many of the things around your house. It’s in airplanes you fly in. It’s even in your mouth if you happen to use Invisalign braces!
Sigh.
Via Deseret News
True and those articles are the seed for the hype cycle's Trough of Disillusionment.