The ocean of thinkers and tinkerers whose talents could do so much more if they had access to affordable and convenient 3D printing is about to be unleashed on the high seas of design.
The latest domestic 3D printer, the Buccaneer, provides high-definition printing at half the price of an iPad, a price almost anyone with a curiosity would pay.
Coming in at $347, the team behind it has finally started putting machines into production with release dates, with the Bucaneer having a spec sheet that should make everyone intrigued.
By opening up the technology to the mass market consumer, market pressure, competition and demand for value-for-money and quality will come bearing down on the big guns of the 3D printing world.
“There is a world market for about 5 computers” famously quoted by the head of IBM in the mid 1940s. And he’d have been right – computers were expensive, large, highly technical and extortionate – But market demand for better, faster and cheaper computers lead to mainframes, desktops, laptops and most recently remote controlled vibrating underwear (thank you Durex).
The point is, once the general consumer gets a taste of something, you either bend or break, and Pirate3D is bending backwards to satisfy a demand that hasn’t even arisen yet, but is surely likely to.
If you’re a designer, let alone a public consumer, spending several thousand pounds for a 3D printer that is inherently mind boggling without having used isn’t likely to happen, no matter what potential it can offer.
At less than $350 the gamble becomes shorter and suddenly everyone is able to explore the wider world of design like a pirate [without the raping and pillaging].
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