3D Printer for Home, Education and Rapid Prototyping

Three Things We Can’t Do… Yet.

by Aaron H. Pratt

The proliferation of printers in the 3D space has been remarkable. Among the most exciting things in the news in the past few weeks have been a 3D pen for manually drawing with plastic at a sub-$100 price point(1), and of course President Obama’s acknowledgement of the industry in his State of the Union Address(2). President Obama correctly acknowledged the laboratory where “new workers are mastering 3D Printing” as the appropriate domain of the 3D Printer today. He also keyed in on the technology as having the “potential to revolutionize the way we make everything”, which is simultaneously [Read more…]

The Promise of 3D Printers

by Aaron H. Pratt, VP Marketing – Microboards Technology/Afinia

Almost exactly one year ago, we made the decision to enter the fray of 3D printing. What we saw then, and what we see now, was a disruptive technology, positioned to change business, that was beginning to make its way into the desktop market. Technologically speaking, we knew we were a late entrant. 3D printing, sometimes called Additive manufacturing, had been around for 30 years in one form or another. But marketwise, we saw a window of opportunity. Suddenly, garage tinkerers and back-room hobbyists were beginning to produce a product that met the economic requirements and piqued the interest of a much broader market than before. Given our expertise in commercializing new technology products in the B2B space, we decided to help the industry take a step past the tinker toy stage and offer a finished, supported device to users who were ready to try 3D printing but would need something that worked out of the box. And Afinia was born. [Read more…]