More accurate article than most on SP, but still overstated.
Finally, an article that at least cautions readers not expect that the world is going to be changed by 3-D printing - at least drastically. What is it about the material and cost limitations - the economics of "3-D" printing that is so hard for reporters to understand. Don't you get comparing 3-D printing to the internet - is totally inappropriate and just logically lame. The idea that Home Depot is going to start repair shops using 3-D printers for parts is economically absurd. The idea that I'm going to go to a 3-D printing booth to make a new handle for the screw driver I broke yesterday is equally absurd, because the price of the 3-D printing material (assuming it is structurally adequate) is more than the cost of the a new screw driver. It's the economics - or the lack thereof that has and still governs the applications of 3-D printing - not the technology.
Why not just state the obvious -there are certain types of tasks - such as single material small number component product development where 3-D printing can excel, however these are relatively limited number of applications. At the same time 3-D P will be economically unfeasible for many other production processes where existing tech like die cast molding large numbers of products where 3-D printed products can't come close to competing - ever. It's just simple math. physics and basic economics.
