Mass-produced 3D printer, the Makerbot Digitizer, has gone on pre-order sale today, its $1,400 (£900) price tag making it an accessible early model for the home or office user.
While it reportedly takes 12 minutes to successfully scan and reproduce a 3D copy of a model of a small gnome, the MakerBot company says the machine is not truly intended to be a mass-use device to make 3D printing an everyday activity, but is predominantly for hobbyists instead.
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"The MakerBot Digitizer is for early adopters, experimenters, and visionaries who want to be pioneers in Desktop 3D Scanning," said the company.
"This includes, but is not limited to, architects, designers, creative hobbyists, educators, and artists."
MakerBot makes it clear that expectations of the machine should be "realistic", suggesting that scanning and eating a hamburger would not be possible, and that shiny, reflective or fuzzy surfaces should be avoided.
The MakerBot Digitizer will ship in mid-October 2013.
3D printing was recently mentioned as a suggested national curriculum component for schools in the DfE's new guidelines, overseen by Education Secretary Michael Gove.
But do you believe 3D printing has a useful future in business and commerce, or do you think it is just a passing fad that will disappear into the annals of history along with the Sinclar C5 and the Amstrad Emailer? Let us know in the comments section.
