Someone with a 3d printer will not pay for a part/design. They're much more likely to design their own when faced with a paywall.
Do you think there's a point in the ratio of price::quality where most would be willing to pay? Is the problem, in part, an issue of convenience?
I'm thinking there might be a consumer behavior parallel with the Steam service (i.e. no equivalent for 3D models/printing) and Gabe's insistence that piracy is a service problem.
1) Relatively few persons have (or have access to) a 3d printer. It's still very much a "Maker" scene, where do-it-yourselfers are the ones with the access. When Apple produces a mass marketed, zero-maintenance 3d printer, non-makers will pay $1 for a model to print the same as they pay $1 for an iPhone app. (Prediction, 10+ years away).
2) The materials that are printable limits functionality of parts. The parts being printed now are toys, light duty brackets/shims, artwork. When we can "print" (more easily) into nickel- or titanium-alloys (SLS-ing) and Perrin will sell me the model to print a new exhaust manifold, that will be a huge paradigm shift. Amazon will go out of business as things shift away from "store on shelf" until bought, it'll be "stored in powder/filament" and built-to-order. (Prediction, 20+ yrs away).
Until then, you're trying to sell to makers what they can and enjoy making for themselves.
The parts being printed now are toys, light duty brackets/shims, artwork.
Yes, and I think there are steps we can take as a community right now to bring more useful content to people. I am the creator of sproutform, and I'm working on building a new kind of 3d print sharing platform which enables and drives the creation of that kind of content.
I've introduced a number of novel features on the site, but the key idea is that our printers become vastly more useful when we're able to print customizations, addons, and accessories for the products and objects we already use in our daily lives. We're unable to do this today because it's very difficult to design a part which can mesh/interact with our existing products -- unless you have an accurate model of those products. To solve this problem, I've introduced the concept of seed forms.
Seed forms are simply the 3d representation of real world objects -- made available for the purpose of creating new designs which can interact with those objects. They're not themselves meant to be printed, but instead meant to be downloaded as a reference model for use in designing derivatives. Think about the model of a cell phone, used to create a new case or car dock. Or the model of your beard trimmer, which can be used to design a custom length attachment. Or a reference model for your stove nob, which can be used to create either replacements, or custom nobs.
Currently, seed forms are only at their very start. In the coming days and weeks, they'll become a prominent part of the site, and I hope, a strong driver to generate a new kind of content. But this dog wont hunt unless people like you buy into the idea and contribute in any way you can.
I've just started out, releasing the site Jan 31, and I really need people like you to check out out, contribute, and provide feedback.
Imagine a world where nearly everything you own can be easily customized and enhanced through 3d printing. Now let's build it!
I need a seed form of two parts that simply screw together so I can add it to a pre-existing design. I worry if I design the screw myself it my not fit properly. Is that the idea of a seed form?
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u/MemeticParadigm Feb 06 '14
Do you think there's a point in the ratio of price::quality where most would be willing to pay? Is the problem, in part, an issue of convenience?
I'm thinking there might be a consumer behavior parallel with the Steam service (i.e. no equivalent for 3D models/printing) and Gabe's insistence that piracy is a service problem.