Jonhohle, I know what you mean, 3D printing always seems to be in the 5+ years portion of most technical reports by companies like Gartner. I'm not a big believer in the immediate application of 3D printing, but I think progress is being made. Companies like www.figureprints.com are starting to bridge the gap between science fiction and everyday commerce. While it is certainly "nichey" we should remember that we had rotisserie baseball on Prodigy before Google and Wikipedia.
You are also right that the low cost printers aren't much better. Their value is more in exposing smart people with diverse skill sets to the technology and from there bright entrepreneurs will find a way to commercialize it. We need hackers and marketers to understand the potential before we have Amazon.com
I wouldn't be surprised if the first big inroads are in toys and game related things, but quickly swing to critical areas like medical. In any case a fun area worth watching.
You are also right that the low cost printers aren't much better. Their value is more in exposing smart people with diverse skill sets to the technology and from there bright entrepreneurs will find a way to commercialize it. We need hackers and marketers to understand the potential before we have Amazon.com
I wouldn't be surprised if the first big inroads are in toys and game related things, but quickly swing to critical areas like medical. In any case a fun area worth watching.