Simples – the MakerBot Replicator Mini started shipping today following its announcement earlier in the year.
Editor’s note: Who remembers this visionary in the photo at the bottom?
Well it is quite easy to explain. If the MakerBot Replicator Mini fails commercially, the Makerbot division will catch a cold, well it could turn into flu actually. Any failure could see them move away into the safety of their parent company (Stratasys). Big things are riding on shipping this baby to consumers and it is not just the money for development or the manufacturing set up at risk. There is a principle at stake – almost a design philosophy. The have had some success with the Makerbot Replicator 2 but …
The big question:
Can we get 3D printers into the hands of more people and take the next leap towards consumer adoption?
I feel for the CEO of Makerbot because he has caught a new religion. Just watch the video. Always nice when a salesman believes in his product and I am not being sarcastic.
You see when some of us had a Sinclair Z80, Vic20 and finally the BBC computer (in London – we knew it was the dog’s danglies) or the ZX Spectrum, it was like a religion. Atari come on down because we just loaded space invaders in the Forth programming language and now we can also have it in structured basic. We don’t need to feed those machines in the bowling alley because we have PacMan at home. At this point I just lost half the readership – rattling on.
Well history has important things to say.
The point is this. 3D printing for ordinary folk is nerdish (does such a word exist?). It is a fact and there is no denying it. My mum does not have a 3D printer but she has adopted a Nexus 7 so she can skype – I might add under severe duress at the ripe old age of 75.
Good luck Brett. One day, you may be considered as an icon although I doubt this is your personal aim.
Sir Clive Sinclair
Who remembers this visionary by the way who went to market? Well before big Steve or little Bill got any air time. They were not even on the map.
The English genius who most of us forgot