From Stewart Dickson, Champaign, Illinois, US
As long ago as 1989 I was involved in the first wave of 3D printing; but the trumpeting of the recent second wave, which started after some patents expired, perplexes me. I hear that sales of home 3D printers are in decline, as people discover how non-automatic it really is.
But economic forecasters keep predicting exponential growth and markets into the billions. Only for the wealthiest 1 per cent, I think. The value of 3D-printed sculpture is even harder to see than the mass market for customised prosthetics.
