3d printer companies Ultimaker and MakerBot announce merger – Computer – News

I don’t think so at all

The current 3D consumer market is perhaps ‘a bit’ saturated. But there’s still so much innovation to really make it a user-friendly mainstream product that I can understand this fusion very well. Compare it to the printer market. The ink squeegee of the 90s (who didn’t have an HP Deskjet 5xx?) is nothing like today’s printers. The quality is much better and so is the speed. In addition, the user-friendliness has increased enormously and you see more and more multifunction devices.

Can you explain that trend on the 3D market? Many 3D printers are prone to errors. The printing process is time-consuming (read: takes a long time) and the result is certainly not always what you expect. In addition, even in the most intricate setting, it is still recognizable that it comes from a 3D printer. That’s not a problem for many people, but if you want to put it on your closet as a showpiece, maybe it is. Filament also has plenty of challenges. Printing a flower pot doesn’t mean it’s waterproof, just to name a few. Or that certain fine details come out as designed.

And then the adjustments / extensions. You indicate that you have an Ender 3. Let me have that too You also indicate that you have already half renovated it and that more is on the way. I recognize that too. I have also replaced all kinds of parts with others with different capacities or higher quality etcetera. But that also indicates that an entry-level printer does not meet the quality expectation. But people are also willing to spend money to improve that quality. You and I in any case already and given the market for parts we are clearly not the only ones.

And then the piece of software, in which both companies are also well represented. I really had to learn to find my way around it. I assume you are too, unless you are well versed in mathematics and have worked with 3D programs such as Solid Designer or Autocad in school. I don’t belong to that generation. For me, the learning curve was quite steep.

Something that I really miss in the 3D printing world is an easy way to design and print something or scan and reproduce something. That is all possible, but first of all it costs serious amounts of money (a good 3D scanner costs a few Euros) and in addition you have to wait and see whether the result is really what you hoped for. So there is still a lot of innovation to be done there.

So in the area of ​​the printer itself there is still a lot to innovate, certainly also in the area of ​​software. For example, you see multi-function 3D devices from Snapmaker, for example equipped with a laser cutter or engraver next to an extruder for filament. That could also be a multifunctional development direction. But also think of multicolor. That is not possible at all, unless you are going to do filament changes on the assembly line or you have a printer with more than 1 extruder/printhead.

And then filament. PLA is perhaps the most widely used. PETG is a drama to work with, especially on the Ender3. TPU (for the layman: flexible filament with which you can print car tires, for example) is not exactly ‘nice stuff’ for easy printing. Every print material has its own challenges. That, in combination with the fact that you would like to have everything in all colors, means that there is still a lot to be desired when it comes to filament, I think.

Last but certainly not least: education and commerce are closely related. People in education eventually end up in professional life. Those who ensure that they can handle certain technology can quickly find a job in that sector. If you also know the same products, that is extra handy.

In short, I can see that merger. I hope that together they will push the innovation even harder so that the market can go much further and become much more user-friendly.

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