Why MakerBot Didn’t Kickstart A 3D Printing Revolution



Bre PettisâS once said MakerBot gave you a superpower — “You can make anything you need.” But four years later, mirandakatz writes that though MakerBot promised to revolutionize society, “That never happened.” At Backchannel, Andrew Zaleski has the definitive, investigative account of why the 3D printing revolution hasn’t yet come to pass, culled from interviews with industry observers, current MakerBot leadership, and a dozen former MakerBot employees. As he tells it, “In the span of a few years, MakerBot had to pull off two very different coups. It had to introduce millions of people to the wonders of 3D printing, and then convince them to shell out more than $1,000 for a machine. It also had to develop the technology fast enough to keep its customers happy. Those two tasks were too much for the fledgling company.”

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