I think that it is fair enough to say that the machinery aspects of 3D printing are close enough to being locked down now. The mechanical and digital means of moving the print head, be it laser or extruder, have been set for some time. Any new machines are most often just tweeks in design of the original RepRap concepts.

I believe that the on-going development of 3D printing will be in the area of printable precursor. We have the simple thermoplastics like PLA and ABS. We can print with wood and nylon. Metallic powders and resins are used by some. But now we are getting reports of printing with materials that are biologically compatible as shown in the story of the doctors who printed trachea to save infants (see the News Thread).

I think that the 3D community should withhold support a little from projects in places like Kickstarter that are simply for the production of another version of a 3D printer, and instead, support those projects that deal with the development of new print materials.

Old Man Emu