[jonascopenhagen]

> For something you can't (custom items, small parts, little toys, ...), home printing is (or will be) great.

Custom items? Order them online (if they're semi-custom, e.g. a standard T-shirt with your custom text on it) - it takes less time and will probably be cheaper, despite the shipping cost. If it's a custom item you're 3D-modeling yourself, that's a different story - but that's for hobbyists - it won't be mainstream.

Toys? So instead of picking up that $5 doll in the supermarket, busy parents will find something online and wait a half hour while a noisy printer prints a product which is even more expensive than the $5?

[kbutler]

Heard a 3D printer enthusiast's description of his children making their own doll furniture, RPG miniatures, etc.

Toys.

Barbie? Probably not.

[jonascopenhagen]

Sure, I agree that 3D printers have a future as children's toys (I wrote that towards the end of my blog post). But the factory-at-home idea where you print cheap objects in order to save money/time is not realistic.

[kbutler]

Sure, I agree that paper printers have a future as toys. The printer-at-home idea where you print cheap books in order to save money/time is not realistic.

[jonascopenhagen]

Do the majority of people print books themselves at home? Not in my experience. And if they did, they'd waste both time and money and have an inferior product.

[kbutler]

But everybody has a paper printer at home. They are ubiquitous even though they are not economical for a pre-existing use case.