I'm totally stoked about 3D printing! I have built 3 printers now and enjoy the heck out of it. However, I tend to think that consumer printing needs are being overestimated. I think we will continue see an increase in consumer growth over the next couple years but then reality will hit. These things are not ready to be on most of my friend's desks yet. Folks will pay several thousand dollars for the most popular printers, get them home where they will turn into a cool looking paperweight.

Until we really see some growth the technology of consumer printing it is destined to fail. By growth I mean new stuff that will make printers easier to maintain and keep calibrated! Automatic bed leveling is a recent development that may make things easier but I haven't seen it adopted by any but the reprap crowd yet. The printers showcased at CES were all the same stuff that we can get everywhere else. Think about it, the only changes are the color and shape of the outer cases. Makerbot, the "darling" of the consumer printing world, showed off three "new" printers that use the exact same mechanics we've seen since they started. Correct me if I'm wrong. If the industry continues to sell these to the non-maker crowd then we will eventually see a backlash. They are not easy to use and "ready out of the box" is really not completely true. Wait until their extruder starts to strip and they are told to get out a hex driver and take the thing apart. There is a lot of hype out there right now that I don't think the consumer side of the industry can completely live up to.

So, for myself, I still love 3D printing but I'm a bit of a sceptic about the mainstream excitement going on.