What makes the best 3D printer for you? I think there’s another factor we’ve all been missing.
Selecting a 3D printer involves a lot more than getting the best price. 3D printers can be quite different from each other, and you must choose the right tool for the job.
This means that purchasing a machine involves looking closely at your intended applications, and then seeing which machine option would handle that in the best way. Price analysis comes later.
But after purchasing, the operator uses the machine, and perhaps others. Eventually, every operator comes to focus on one particular machine.
What do I mean here? Anyone who has several 3D printers almost certainly tends to use one of them more than the others. I’ve seen this myself, having operated perhaps over a hundred different machines over the past years.
If you have only a single machine, that’s the one you use. But what happens when you have several to choose from?
For me, and I suspect many others, it’s a combination of ease of use and familiarity: I know how to use that machine and also know that it will produce good enough output for this job.
In other words, I — and probably you — tend to use one type of 3D printer on hand more than others. It’s about getting the result in the easiest workflow.
This is more than just a curious observation; it might also be the key to increasing sales for 3D printer manufacturers.
I — and you — might buy more of the favored machine when the next opportunity to purchase appears. We are more familiar with that machine, we know how it runs, and another one would fit right in.
This shows me that the ease of use factor is likely more important than thought by some 3D printer manufacturers. While the hardware specifications of many desktop FFF 3D printers are very similar, there are vast differences in the user interface experience, for example.
It seems to me that many manufacturers set the priority for interfaces as “low”, as they tend to focus on the hardware specifications that play loudly in their advertising material. This often leaves the user interfaces in a poor state, and that over time could cause problems when it’s time to buy another machine.
Why buy a machine that has a bad interface? Or from a company that has seemingly refused to provide proper interfaces?
I think several desktop 3D printer manufacturers are missing out on this aspect. I think they overrate the flashy features and under-prioritize the development of easy user interfaces for equipment.
If equipment was easy to use, then they would sell more of them to the wider world where most people are not technically inclined.
Why doesn’t this happen? I am baffled.
