-Loki- wrote:

 Blaggard wrote:
However if 3d printing fails I will eat these words, I just think it won't.

It won't fail, but I don't think it'll get the mainstream support people think it will to make it as cheap as other consumer electronics until the technology gets some major innovations.

VHS, then DVD, then Blu Ray players got cheaper because they had mainstream appeal (renting movies, owning movies).
Record, Cassette and CD players got cheaper because they had mainstream appeal (owning music).
2D desktop printers got cheaper because they had mainstream appeal (printing your own documents).

3D printers... I just don't see the mainstream appeal yet. You need to remember the vast, vast majority of consumers don't do things like play wargames. 3D printers, to them, will look like an expensive printer than can print a trinket than can buy for $5 at a market. Anything actually useful the average person can think of to print (which will boil down to electronic and automotive spare parts, anything around the house that can break, etc) is simply not suitable in the material 3D printers currently work with. Printing a part for an engine in resin or plastic when it needs to be hardened steel is going to end up risking lives due to its unsuitability.

So yeah, the technology itself won't fail, but in its current state, I can't see it getting the mainstream support other major household electronics have gotten simply due to the average person having no actual use for it with the material it currently works with. Which means they won't get cheap enough for the average wargamer to want to buy and experiment with for a good few years yet.