The real moneymaking tools in this space are going to be a class of utilities that can broadly be described as "assisted design"; everything from object editors

The real moneymaking tools in this space are going to be a class of utilities that can broadly be described as "assisted design"; everything from object editors that know about pleasing proportions to linters that will tell you that you laid out the plumbing wrong and you should fix it before it gets printed. The printers themselves will be commodified quickly; although multi-material printers will buck that trend for some time. Feedstock is already commodified and I can't really see anyone making a play on a printer/feedstock combo that required you buy only genuine branded feedstock. The basic design tools ( Meshlab, Blender; etc.) are already free, but require real expertise to understand and use. So the main market opportunities are going to be: 1. finding talented designers/architects/developers and matching them with the demand for design services. 2. parametric design adapters that can take a common set of parameters and produce an individualized design ( from clothing to buildings ) 3. Assistive design tools; tools that help you realize your designs while ensuring that they remain within the bounds of manufacturability and are pleasing to the eye and hand; without requiring that you become an expert in whatever field you are dabbling in. ( Think of a jewelry design application that knows about both physics and proportion, and suggests alterations to you. Or a habitat builder that can show you a map of where mildew will happen in your design...) The basic premise of this class of application is that you could hand it to a bright fourteen year old and she could design a successful and functional instance of the target class of object. If you're hungry for good ideas; there's a fairly rich vein of common items that people will want a customized version of, but won't necessarily be wanting a bespoke or personal design. That would be point 2. above.