> it's possible I have a different concept of general hobbyists than you do Yes, we're talking about very different levels of hobbyists here. I'm talking about

> it's possible I have a different concept of general hobbyists than you do Yes, we're talking about very different levels of hobbyists here. I'm talking about the people who are frequently doing 3D printing today. They're often not thinking about the actual algebra and Bézier curves and what not. They're playing around in CAD software extruding surfaces and connecting vertices and what not, if they're even going that deep. They're downloading pre-made models off Thingverse and printing them with their printer, tinkering with the physical aspects of their printers. Lets try printing this model in this material, lets mess around with this fill, what if we print it at this angle, etc. They're not digging deep into the code of how the CAD application actually works to draw the curves. They absolutely wouldn't be hand typing out the functions to draw The Rock's face on to a toilet, letting it render all night long, going back to tweak their math, letting it render all night long, rinse and repeat. > on an IBM PC-XT with a 4.7MHz 8088 > the machines had two video cards A pretty high-end machine for many home users (~$5k new in 000001983, almost $16k today). I realize there were even higher end machines out there though. > a version whose 3D functionality was inadequate for any real use Exactly my point. And when would that machine have come out? The PC-XT released in 000001983. So even in 000001983 decently high-end home computers with $001,000+ (of 1982 money, >$3k today) software suites weren't very suitable for even basic CAD work without many pitfalls and limitations. So general home users who barely passed highschool algebra and don't have degrees in mathematics trying to use 3D printers wouldn't really have the compute capacity to think about what they're trying to make and modify without getting really deep into it, at least until about the 90s. The 3D printing scene as it exists today pretty much couldn't exist until the 90s. Sure, very smart people with piles of cash could have done it in 000001980, potentially even the mid 000001970s, but not like a go to the computer store, buy all you need for <$000,500 (about $000,060 in 000001970s money), plug in to your cheap $000,200 (about $000,020 000001970s) computer, dial into the BBS, grab some files for The Rock's face on a toilet from your BBS, and start printing in an afternoon.