some good points MK-X.

But back in the days when i was buying $400 cars - petrol was so cheap it wasn't even considered a running cost. I'd look at filament now and in the next year or so the same way.

Filamentwise - so far I've paid £14 a kg or less (about $22) and it's all been good, and I suspect chinese :-)
And a kg of filament goes a helluva long way. So running costs, for material are minimal.

And a decent replacement hotend can be had for $40.

I'm not saying there are no ongoing costs. But once you've got a basic machine.
Improvements can be gradual and filament is just getting cheaper and cheaper.

I don't have issues with things of chinese manufacture. Way i look at it, the more things we buy from china - the more raw materials they have to buy from us. And, at the moment britain is doing quite well in exports to china stakes.
We need to accept that we live in the age of the global market, all big corporations are no longer mono-nationalitiy.

So whether it's legal or course required necessity - 3d printers are where it's at in the zeitgeist. Was it 'necessary' for me to buy a 3d printer. No, but do i consider it a personal necessity ?
Yes.
I've spent my life designing and inventing mad things. Now, with a little cad and a machine in my workshop - I can turn those designs into reality in a matter of hours.
It's much like a car, in that before you own one it's not a neccessity - but once you've owned one, you really can't do without :-)