Your first question hinges on the definition of practical. Almost 0% of the population defines prototype development, using 3d printers or not, as practical.

Your first question hinges on the definition of practical. Almost 0% of the population defines prototype development, using 3d printers or not, as practical. Or model railroading as being practical. The latter question, if you exclude "everyday", is a yes. You can't sell 10 HO scale model railroad 55 gallon drums for $19.95 at a local hobby store as a boxed scenery kit when the marketplace contains people who own 3-d printers, basically everyone but the mfgrs and retailers is winning due to printed scenery components. So due to supply and demand everyone is paying less, not just printer owners, at least in the short term. In the medium to long term crushing industry segments probably doesn't help much. I'm not thinking "practical" is a useful marketing term for a tool mostly used by professionals and serious hobbyists. A good analogy of why can be seen in my socket set for car work or my table saw, those are fine hobbies but useless for the stereotypical perfect consumer. Then again the stereotypical perfect consumer who has no hobbies other than watching advertisements and shopping probably does not exist in practice. I'm not sure what practical means in the sense of a creative tool anyway. My mom used to pain in acrylics for fun, and it would be very hard to define brands of paint or painting styles as being more or less practical than others. Sound of one hand clapping and all that.