>if we suddenly discovered a way to do 3D printing (probably using 3D technologies other than those in current use) that was anywhere near as fast as convention

>if we suddenly discovered a way to do 3D printing (probably using 3D technologies other than those in current use) that was anywhere near as fast as conventional manufacturing, the resulting revolution could [...] And that is 3D printing hype in a nutshell: yes, the technology and its conceivable developments are not good enough to replace any significant part of mass production. But if some miraculous new development happened, if only this technology could develop at a pace as fast as some incredible outlier such as integrated circuits, then it would be a revolution! In fact there is nothing that revolutionary about 3D printing, and it is very closely related to manufacturing technologies that were simply developed earlier because they held more economic potential. At its core, a 3D printer is a working head that is computer-controlled to move in three dimensions with an attached tool that deposits small amounts of material. A CNC milling machine is also a 3D-moving working head with an attached tool that removes small amounts of material. This is far more useful because you can work with any kind of material you want. "Ah," the 3D printing evangelists will say, "but that is so wasteful! We need an accretive process to economize material." Except we already have another widely-successful industrial process that also works by adding material: industrial robotics. An industrial robot arm is a computer-controlled 3D moving working head (notice a pattern here?) that can add new parts to an existing workpiece. The parts are standardized and mass-produced separately, at a ridiculously low price, out of ridiculously strong materials. So between CNC milling and industrial robotics, which are basically the same technology with different working heads, there is just not that much of a niche for 3D printing to make a dent into. Yes, that could change tomorrow if aliens came down from heaven and brought us a miraculously advanced 3D printer. But at that point the discussion reaches ground previously reserved for messianic religions, a discussion that I'd rather stay out of right now.