[RobotToaster]

>Why do you think that an open information model would have been better in this case?

Look at the revolution the reprap project produced, imagine that with carbide.

[nunuvit]

Fused filament had already been commercialized more than a decade before reprap. Maybe check back in ten years.

[jbay808]

Reprap launched when the first FFF patents were expiring, and kicked off a huge burst of creativity and innovation in 3D printing that continues to this day.

[nunuvit]

Right, so the reprap came well after the invention of fused filament, following the typical technology lifecycle of invention, then commercialization, then democratization.