It's funny
http://www.slate.com/articles/techno...d_printer.html
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This is very good and fun reading! Indeed many people say that personal 3D printing is definitely still for the initiated (and dedicated?).
Related to the statement "Until there’s a killer app for the desktop 3-D printer, though, I can’t see any reason for the average person to buy one", Hod Lipson in his book "Fabricated" argues that food may be the killer app, but then the question is when the technology will be ready to provide something better (faster, tastier, more intricate) than the current options in our kitchens?
I follow food 3D printing at @foodfabbing.
Personally, food printing would be a killer app for me if it was connected to a nutrition program. Taste wouldn't be my primary concern if the machine managed my nutrition intake. However, I would quit using it once I got bored with paste and the printer would sit in the house like TV informercial exercise equipment.
It's funny that you mention that Bradley. Actually Hod Lipson in the book foresees a personal food 3D printer that will custom make a nutritionally optimized meal depending on your specific biometrics status for each occasion. This will transform completely how we relate to food. On the other hand, Chris Barnatt in his great book "3D Printing: The Next Industrial Revolution," argues that the whole area of food 3D printing is going nowhere. My own opinion is somewhere in the middle. Just as microwave ovens did not replace traditional ovens or stove-tops, food 3D printers may be a kitchen technology with its unique place among others.
I agree with Lipson. If we had devices that could measure of our nutritional needs a 3D printer that optimized our meals would be pretty amazing. On the other hand, Barnatt's position seems a little extreme. Fancy cupcakes are a market. If a 3D printer could print a fancy frosting for a batch of cupcakes it would probably find a market.