"Is my experience growing up really that uncommon? Or is having a 3D printer just an expensive substitute for having friends that are in to making and fixing st

"Is my experience growing up really that uncommon? Or is having a 3D printer just an expensive substitute for having friends that are in to making and fixing stuff?" I probably made more things growing up than you, from my own microcomputer(from components you had to solder), my complete bicycle, lots of toys, my own welder from microwave transformers, my own tools like motorized saws and stuff including mechanizing all the gears and dioramas for the Warhammer(a UK lead figurines game, we also melted lead to copy dragons[the bigger super-expensive ones]). I also had lots of friends as a kid, but only a minority were into making things. Now as a grown up, I really, really LOVE my 3D printer. Why? Because is not just a maker machine like a saw, but it is a hidden mass production machine. I design once, I upload my design to thingiverse and 10.000 people or a million(if there were that much printers) could do it too without effort. I also don't need to spend hours thinking how to solve a problem, and more hours making it, I have a real job to fill most of my time, and my family for the remainder. I could go to the web and within five minutes put the printer to work while doing more important things like walking the dog or kissing my wife. PS: BTW, my job is in making things, we use 3Dprinters and routers for prototypes a lot.