I think folks are confusing consumer printing with industrial printing. Industrial 3d printing has been around since the 80s and companies like Stratasys have been there since the beginning. Quite frankly, Makerbot is not really aimed at consumers anymore either. Even though they still have some consumer outlets, Stratasys bought Makerbot to fill the small business niche.

I hope that the big players do get involved. They have the ability to really move the consumer field forward that only lots of money and mass production can do.