Survey Articles: What's New In 3D Printing?

What's New in 3D Printing, Part I: Introduction

Kyle Rankin | December 23, 2015

[Blogger's note: This article is part I in a planned series of 4 articles. Part II is available at http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/whats-new-3d-printing-part-ii-hardware (What's New in 3D Printing, Part II: the Hardware, January 20, 2016)]

Three years ago, I wrote a series of articles titled "Getting Started with 3D Printing" that discussed the current state of the hobbyist 3D printing market from both the hardware and software angles. This is an incredibly fast-moving industry, and a lot has changed since I wrote those columns. So much has changed in fact, that this first article will serve just to introduce what likely will be a three- or four-part series on the current state of 3D printing. In my next articles, I'll dive deeper into particular 3D printing topics, so consider this article as an overview and sneak peek to those topics. 3D printing is a big topic, and this is Linux Journal, so I'm going to approach this topic from a Linux-using open-source perspective and stick to tools that work in Linux.

One of the best examples of the difference between old and new is a comparison between the original Ultimaker and the current Ultimaker 2. The original has the classic boxy laser-cut wood case, while the modern printer has a frosted acrylic case. Source: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/whats-new-3d-printing-part-ii-hardware

<more at http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/whats-new-3d-printing-part-i-introduction; related links: http://www.pwc.com/us/en/technology-forecast/2014/3d-printing/features/future-3d-printing.html (The road ahead for 3-D printers. 2015-16) and http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricksmith/2015/06/29/7-ways-3d-printing-is-already-disrupting-global-manufacturing/#8cf060d158b9 (7 Ways 3D Printing Is Already Disrupting Global Manufacturing. June 29, 2015)>