What a month, as the 3DPI writing team continues to grow — in number and stature — the 3D printing stories are coming through thicker and faster than ever before.
A clear trend throughout the month of May has been the proliferation of new hardware — far from slowing down and consolidating (or indeed imploding) the market just keeps on expanding. As usual, the news came through in the various guises of pre-announcement announcements, actual announcements, Kickstarter campaigns and launches. I think the clear winner in terms of blind-siding the industry and its followers came with the announcement from Autodesk. The other one that caught my attention and has me waiting with baited breath came from Josh Harker, spinning it a little differently with a pre-Kickstarter, Kickstarter campaign! While baited, I’m certainly not holding my breath, I know better than that these days. Another hardware highlight was the Titan 1, an interesting new DLP 3D printer. This launch caused some controversy among designers due to designs being used in the promo, without permission, and thus initiated this article by Mike. Although, Kudo3D, the manufacturer of the Titan 1, should get some kudos for resolving the issues quickly. Whether the big fish do the same and keep remembering to do the same, only time will tell.
So, we still have signs of huge growth, but I know I am not the only one waiting for an implosion at some level. What this continued growth signifies, to me at least, is that there is still a voracious appetite for 3D printers — particularly new ones — suggesting that many are still waiting for “the one.” Low cost 3D printers in particular are still capturing the imagination — the stand-out new 3D printer platform in that genre this month is the MOD-t, which is just shy of half a million dollars today after only four days on Indiegogo.
Trends across applications emerged through May too, with a strange but understandable proliferation of 3D printed insoles. Robots featured highly through May too, Jimmy is just too cute for words. When the cost comes down from $16,000, he will, in all likelihood, be on my Christmas list. On an industrial level, 3D printing for the dental market has continued to go from strength to strength, with both Stratasys and 3D Systems dedicating resources to improvements. And, of course, we couldn’t possibly go a whole month without a headline that contains “gun”, this time the drama is playing out in the Eastern hemisphere.
May was also the month that saw the publication of the 2014 Wohlers Report and the Bay Area Maker Faire. Very different sources of very different but equally valuable information around 3D printing.
And then, working for a media outlet, you of course come across all the rumours and speculation. This month has been no different. It is an intentional remit to keep most of it out of the pages of 3DPI, but some of it you just can’t ignore, because the implications are just too big! Talking of, I heard a rumour today from a generally reliable source, but can find no substantiation at this point, thus I can’t go on the record with it yet. But should it come to pass, this industry of ours is going to be turned on its head — and then jiggled some more!!
Anyway, back to the here and now — at 3DPI we were delighted to publish a new, free resource for its growing readership this month — The 3D Printing Beginners Guide. This has been in the works a while and the premise is to offer a starting point for anyone looking to get to grips with the many facets of the 3D printing industry. It is an extensive guide, but not perfect. We intend to keep developing it and adding to it. So if you do have any suggestions feel free to let me know — either in the comments section or privately by email or via the contact form etc.
The 3DPI.TV channel is continuing to go from strength to strength too, with Alyssa growing in confidence and relishing the new stories presented through our TV news outlet. Further plans are afoot, so stay tuned on that front.
June is now underway and we’ll be a writer down for a couple of weeks, while Mike enjoys his belated, well-deserved honeymoon with Danielle in Croatia. Word is it’s beautiful — I’m not jealous, at all!!! So, it’s going to be another busy one, I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t I think ……. onwards!
