Maybe many of the people that shop at Stsples are not aware this technology even exists.
In my experience, at least in my locale, the shoppers ask for help finding a USB cable over an HDMI cable. If they are in Staples paying 10x the rate on a cable instead of at monoprice, this just might be something of a value add on.
What many don't know is that a few Staples offer a significant print shop on site. Yes, you can order 1000 rounded corner 4/4 business cards online for near free, or you can pay $90.00 at Staples. Some just haven't yet learned how to enter words into google yet. It's surprising actually. So surprising that LMGTFY is a huge whoosh!
You don't have to drive to Staples. Apparently, they will deliver, much like their existing print services.
They are using a 3D printer that uses glued paper, rather than plastic. I don't know if Shapeway offers that. It'll be interesting to see what the pricing is, and what you can do with layered paper vs. plastic.
The important thing isn't whether you can get stuff 3D printed at Staples. The important thing is that we're nearing an inflection point for 3D printing the way mobile was when the iphone came out in 2007. Meaning, if you missed the elevator ride up with the smart phone, there's another ride coming around the corner.
Is there a technology that is as versatile and cost effective for small scale batches, but slower to finalize the product? The promise of 3D printing is appealing to me because it means I can start making things out of materials that I have thought to be previously out of my budget's reach.
Time is less of a concern from my point of view. If someone can create my one-off plastic model using, say, injection moulding for tens of dollars but it takes a month to get back to me, I'm cool with that. Does such a thing even exist though?
Though your fisrt link says it starts at $1495, compared to the $2 that some 3D printing services start at. You can build some pretty impressive things for under $100 with 3D tech. I'm not sure it is the same league. The second link might be a little closer though.
They two links are for the same company.
The first link is for an injection MOLD. The mold can produce a few thousand parts at ~$1-$3/each.
For 1,000-10,000 parts, ProtoMold is an great option.
Perhaps I didn't make myself clear in the original post. I'm interested in one-off pieces that I can design to solve problems around the house and if it takes a month to wait for that, no big deal. I don't need thousands of pieces.
The parent to my original post suggested there was something akin to 3D printing out there in terms of cost and versatility that was just slower to produce. Something designed for mass production certainly isn't it.
Good catch, that is a major point to me. There is still no reason for them to have stores as a business. They are basically a direct competitor with XYZ internet 3D printer.
If they have any success at all, it is meaningless to their bottom line because Amazon and everyone else will be joining in.
[Edit] [Deleted]: "only less convenient since you need to go to the store to pick it up instead of it just being on your door when you get home."
1. in-person help and advice from store associates.
2. Established supplier for many businesses, which means employees can start using it without having to go through the vendor approval process. It's much easier to dip into an existing corporate budget for some new project than to create a budget for it.
3. First mover advantage. It would be better again if they had it in the actual stores, but I bet that's coming in larger markets.
I like the way you phrased this: "Wrong for 3 reasons, I think:"
Here is my counter argument for what it is worth.
1. in-person help and advice from store associates.
Someone below pointed out that you may be overestimating in store associates. I'm not sure eitherway, but what I do know is that the printing will be done offsight and I would rather deal with a specialist over the web than someone who does some 3D printing, and sells regular printers etc. for my product.
2. Established supplier for many businesses, which means employees can start using it without having to go through the vendor approval process. It's much easier to dip into an existing corporate budget for some new project than to create a budget for it.
This is a great point and I could definitely see some value coming from the fact that I could just give my admin a part number for a 3D print rather than go through a ton of work getting a vendor approved.
3. First mover advantage. It would be better again if they had it in the actual stores, but I bet that's coming in larger markets.
Almost never in the history of business has a first mover advantage been a real advantage. I say almost because there was a previous discussion where someone mentioned 2 or 3 big companies that have done it, but the other 497 fortune 500 companies were copying someone else.
1. I agree that the in-store staff won't be expert. But as long as they're half-way competent, that will be a big help for people who are brand-new to the technology but don't know where to start. I think this will improve over time, but I may be biased; I have this theory that we're moving away from retail being totally unskilled and that brick & mortar suppliers will start competing by improving service, because that's one area where their online competitors are weak.
Now I'm not at all sure Staples will end up as the market leader in 3d printing, but it may be sufficient for them to simply beat out competitors like Office Depot and become the leader in their market segment.
If you want to rapidly iterate on a design this simply isn't going to work. Waiting a day between versions greatly limits the usefulness of this service.
It's all about perspective. 1day turnaround is very slow for software but extremely fast for hardware. In the harware world, high-quality parts turnaround in 1 day is revolutionary.
However this does make the service that much more visible. I'm not sure that 3D printing is that well known yet. Also, dealing with a B&M establishment provides some with additional assurances that they may not have with an online-only business.
I would argue the exact opposite. Online printing turnaround time is slower, costs more(for printing in batches), and is inconvenient when UPS/Fedex keep leaving "sorry we missed you" notices because you're at work.
In-store pickup is nice in that once it's there, it's there. You can just go grab it at your convenience, instead of dealing with the "can only pickup during this small window" thing UPS does.
Wierd. UPS Delivers to my door only when I am at work. Then, if I don't want to/can't take time off, they tell me I must pick it up between 7 and 9 pm, as those are the only acceptable times, unless I call and arrange a pickup at the office instead of a delivery. If I am really lucky, when I call and arrange for a pickup, they will actually keep it in the office, and won't send it out on the next day's truck. After 3 attempts at this, they return it to sender.
I guess you don't live somewhere interesting and/or don't leave the house.