I’m sensing a gradual shift in the attitudes of desktop 3D printer operators.
Desktop 3D printing has been around for quite a long time. The first devices appeared back in 2008, just as the initial Stratasys patents on FDM technology began to expire.
However, those first desktop 3D printers were quite difficult to use. The hardware was pretty terrible because there were no pre-made subsystem components. There was no way to buy a hot end; for example, you had to literally build it yourself by wrapping nichrome wire around metal tubes. Building a 3D printer took days of effort.
Even when finished, many problems still existed. There really wasn’t any proper slicing software. I recall being jubilant seeing the first slicers that actually showed you a preview of the job! Imagine preparing GCODE “blind”. Unthinkable today.
These challenges basically excluded the vast portion of the public that was just not at that level of technical ability. As a result, the 3D printer operators then were exclusively highly capable DIY folks, able to solve their own problems in most cases.
But things have changed. Since those early days, we’ve seen a gradual improvement in all aspects of desktop 3D printing. 3D printer manufacturers sought to increase their sales, and to do so, they had to access the less technical public. That meant they had to make the machines easier to build and use.
Sure enough, sales have increased dramatically since machines became easier to use. However, even with the influx of less technical operators, the 3D print culture has been dominated by the original DIY folks.
They believed that new operators would have to undergo a learning curve similar to what they went through. And that was good advice: machines are bound to fail, and it’s important to understand how and why that may happen.
That’s the state we’ve been in for multiple years, but I believe this is now shifting to a new paradigm.
The introduction of the latest round of desktop equipment in the past year or so has significantly shrunk the learning curve. More aspects are automated, more sensors watch the print jobs, more software controls activities, and machines are made more reliable. There is a decreasing need to know “the details”.
I’ve read several threads where there seems to be a split between the traditional “tinkerer” approach and a new approach where the operators “just want to print”.
Both groups exist, and have been for a while. The change now is that the number of those just wanting to print is going to rapidly outstrip the tinkerer group. Each sale of a new, highly automated desktop 3D printer potentially tilts that ratio even more.
Long-time 3D printer operators have no doubt noticed this trend: have you seen friends or relatives getting a 3D printer, where you could not have imagined them using one five years ago?
This is all in motion, too. Next year’s machines and going forward, we will see machines become even more automated and easy to use. That means that the ratio will continue to change, perhaps more rapidly than anyone expects.
This doesn’t mean tinkerers are going away. It’s just that they will eventually become the minority group. It may be that some manufacturers will take that to mean they should not produce “tinkerable” products, but some will certainly do so.
The new desktop 3D print culture is coming, and it may already be here.
