Maker Faire NYC 2012 Impressions

So Makerfaire was fantastic today,and the 3D printing scene is really blossoming. The number and variety of machines on display was fantastic. What did you think? What stood out and what do you see this community moving toward?

I had some really good discussions today, and intend to have more tomorrow. No pics yet, but I intend to remedy that tomorrow.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Good to finally put a face to a name akhlut! Thanks for stoppin by. Man, there are a ton of printers here eh?

I had a similar impression - lots of new companies stampeding into the space. A lot of them are still using very old (by RepRap standards) designs, unfortunately. I saw everything from the original Cupcake CNC, the original Mendel, countless Prusa variations, some box-based designs, and a couple of Rostocks. The only thing I didn't see was an H-bot design.

John, it was great to meet you in person. Seeing your massive Rostock was quite something.

I also got to meet the one and only Josef Prusa and see his i3 in person. The drop in parts count from previous generations is really astonishing.

I attended the talk given by Chris Anderson and Bre. Chris gave a (IMO) very interesting view on where he sees local/personal manufacturing going in the future. Bre's part was a little more informal, he covered how he got into 3D printing and Makerbot's history. For me this was interesting because I'd never heard most of it before. He touched, very briefly and tangentially, on the change in direction Makerbot is executing. It boils down to a shift in market from tinkerers who want to work on the printer, to people who want to use the printer as a tool to do other things, and want it to "just work".

Putting aside all open source-related issues, I think this is a reasonable business decision. Not only is the potential market bigger, right now there really is not a "it just works" printer on the market that does more than very rudimentary prints with poor quality. Unlike the other outfits that are marketing their printers this way, I think Makerbot actually has the expertise and capability to pull it off in a way that gets significantly more people using and interested in 3D printers.

I thought there were a great deal of people/companies selling pre-built prusas and other open designs?
Why does a "it just works" printer need to be closed and produced by one company to be commercially viable?

Was it just me or was there a makerbot replicator in every non-3D printer booth?

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

akhlut, I didn't get that impression. Any booths in particular?

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akhlut, I didn't get that impression. Any booths in particular?

Yeah, autodesk had at least two and sketchup had three. There were some others as well. I wanted to go find them - like an easter egg hunt or pin the tail on the makerbot. But it started to rain and the family wanted to go, so I was overruled by my 3 year old.

Got some good pics of the 3D printer pavillion, and had some good chats with John from SeeMe CNC. His Rostock is beautiful. Can't wait to see some of the things we talked about come to fruition. Didn't get to take a lot of pics in the non-commercial 3D village, but got to see some folks from my local hackerspace (Hive76 FTW!), along with the folks from Ultimachine. Now I can put a name with a face - always a nice thing. Ran into Josef Prusa and had a quick chat. And had a nice talk with Nate from Sparkfun.

This is the shit I love about Makerfaire. You get to meet some rockstars every now and then, and learn quite a bit too.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

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Yeah, autodesk had at least two and sketchup had three. There were some others as well.

Ah that's why - I didn't spend a whole lot of time in the tent where Autodesk was set up. When I went by it was packed like a Sardine can.

It was reallly great to get to meet in person with all you guys too. Ak and crispy, thanks for spending some time chatting, got some great ideas. Akhlut, i dig the prism 1.5. It was real good to talk to you about our goals as being the hardware guys that can help bring the designs to the masses. We def want to do more of that. Eric is drawing up some stuff in the back of the van as i type. Haha.

Anyone close to us, were going to Ft Wayne makerfaire in a few weeks, stop on by!

John, it was a real pleasure to meet you and the rest of the crew. It's too bad you're out in Indiana - I'd love to hang out with you guys and see your shop!

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Eric is drawing up some stuff in the back of the van as i type.

John, I hope you guys were inspired by the Faire. Sometimes it only takes a small nudge for inspiration to hit you over the head!

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Akhlut, thanks again. Wish you could come hang out. Doors always open! As much as we were inspired, i think we brought some inspiration too. Everyone was def checking oit the parts for the cheapskate and our machined parts etc...

The best part of the show hands down was talking to people, and learning more about the as
Dvantages of our delta. I learned alot.

Here are my pics of the 3D Printer Village this year: [www.flickr.com]

I never made it to the vendor area, so I don't have any real pics of that stuff...