How ‘Enshittification’ Could Impact the Desktop 3D Printing Industry

What would happen if the desktop 3D print world became enshittified?

If you’re not familiar with the term, you certainly are a victim of it. According to Wikipedia:

”Enshittification is a re-prioritization pattern where online product and service providers experience a decline in quality over time. It is observed as platforms transition through several stages: initially offering high-quality services to attract users, then shifting to favor business customers to increase profitability, and finally focusing on maximizing profits for shareholders at the expense of both users and business customers. This process results in a significant deterioration of the user experience.”

I see you nodding, as you have definitely experienced enshittification somewhere in your life recently.

It happens everywhere. A classic example is airline flights, where the service “in the back” is continually degraded, which by implication makes the seats “in the front” more valuable. It’s all about maximizing revenue from a situation where significant innovation is no longer is possible.

Could this happen to desktop 3D printing? It really hasn’t so far, as there is plenty of competition and miles to go on the innovation trail.

But at some point the technology could stabilize into a standard pattern, and the equipment manufacturers of that time might resort to enshittification to maintain their company profits.

What things could they do to make your life miserable keep their profits as high as possible?

Taking cues from other industries, one strategy would be to make “tiers” of users. The tiers would have increasing capabilities, but also increasing prices.

Wait, prices? What would you pay for? It seems to me a key requirement would be for the 3D printer manufacturer to maintain control over the device, even after you own it. That would allow them to implement tiers of functionality. This would mean a requirement for a live internet connection and login.

Most 3D printers don’t have this capability, but more advanced systems do. However, they all offer the ability to use the device in “standalone mode”, offline from the internet.

But what if there were some compelling features that were only available when connected? That would make the online experience better than the standalone experience, but also give the manufacturer more control over the situation.

What if the machine were given away at no charge, but you had to pay a subscription fee to use it? For a US$500 machine, that might be attractive to those that don’t have the cash at hand. Paying US$25 per month for a machine might be affordable.

Once the manufacturer is in that configuration, however, things can happen. Maybe you need to pay an extra amount for the ability to print certain materials beyond mere PLA?

What if you wanted to print faster with that new profile? Maybe there’s an extra $5 per month surcharge for premium profile access?

Perhaps there’s another US$10 per month charge for a machine update every two years.

How about another US$5 per month for the ability to use third party materials on your machine with the new “Experimental Engineer” feature?

Or US$2 per month for the ability to capture and store timelapse videos of prints in progress.

You get the idea: there are an infinite number of possible monetization options a company could create if they control the machine. They can push a user into higher payment brackets by making the lesser brackets have poorer experiences.

This is not a 3D print world I would like to live in, and neither do you.

Fortunately, none of this is likely to happen very soon, as the market is quite crowded with many competitors. It’s not even clear if the current 3D print technologies will be superseded by something better in a few years. The price of equipment continues to drop, and it’s low enough that the prospect of free equipment with subscriptions is less probable.

Meanwhile, keep encouraging 3D printer manufacturers to offer standalone equipment.