There are infinite applications for this cost of machine. I think one needs to recognize the global nature of the world economy today and to recognize that many more people are making use of technology and tinkering with product development in niche areas that have global reach due to viability of reaching people via the web.
In all my business life I have been involved in product development and even in my early corporate days was still essentially part of what one would classify today as a small business. Back in the day to make a plastic part of which our designs always had many and numerous needs for small parts, we would have to have a custom tool made. This involved a great deal of time provided we could find a toolmaker interested in doing it for the effort versus return. Then along came stereo-lithography and the ability to grow the parts. I remember when in my own business we first took on doing this and the cost implications. It was still cheaper than making the tool then taking a new product to market then finding out what the client wanted liked and did not like or want and coming back and making mods to a tool or potentially scrapping the tool (rather what happened was the tool was hacked due to the already sunk cost when it should have been scrapped releasing the designers to make a more suitable design. Even though it was faster to do than waiting for the tool to be made it still affected time to market.
We know its part of our human make up for some of us to be more visually orientated than say oral biased. So when presenting a new idea new product etc to a group of people some of whom have no technical interest in the product it helps tremendously if you have a tangible sample on hand. We are still feelly touchy humans not robots.
Being able to show a toolmaker the sample and have him make molds for mass production for it further helps remove errors and plan tooling even though this is designed fully in Cad. At this kind of price point i would have put one on so many desks it would not be funny.
Schools can use this in so many ways it just takes a bit of imagination. The affordability at this kind of price point makes it possible to teach cad cam as a subject as opposed to having to purchase a cnc carver or router. We know our member Jonathan is teaching kids to turn at a lathe which cost more than this printer yet what the heck are those kids going to do with being able to turn a pen. Its not Jonathan's choice but schools need to radically change the syllabus if they to create workers of tomorrow that can be employed. A printer like this is just an enabler in my view at an affordable price and engaging when you see what some schools that have the budget have done where they could afford to buy kit like Shopbots etc.
I can see a person like Chucks Thoits wife Kalea (also a member here) who
makes Jewelry being able to print her own one off or set of custom bits for a unique piece of jewelry or even make a plastic item that gets used later to make silicon molds to mold many more parts or even loss wax method.
Then don't forget there is a new generation emerging that is getting into niche hand made manufactured items of all sorts and starting new businesses. Given they not finding work and are highly educated they putting their creative talents to use and going it alone or in collaboration.
An example of this in a non tech sense is this hand made soap factory in New York.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28600177, they specifically may not have a need for a 3D printer although i could see them doing so but others will use this level of automation in their business and the barrier to entry is relatively low.
The very open source nature of a 3D printer speaks to this plus add to it the fact that the funding for these things is being raised via a brand new crowd concept in the first place.
Some of you may not be aware but at present the US leads the globe in not only Crowd funding and but in the creation of a legal framework to support this kind of new investment initiative. Kickstarter is only one of the elements of this new (? its been around for a while) concept.
Speaking as a small business guy that has had to raise significant capital in the past and had to deal with all the incumbent gatekeepers to money I think crowd funding on this basis even if conducted by a legitimate investment management company such as a private equity fund is one heck of a leap forward for business. Keep in mind a rock band is a business too, even a magician is a business, so there are now investment companies that offer through crowd funding software, the ability for individuals to invest in small sums in businesses that previously would never have secured funding to give their dream a go. And in those cases its as a shareholder not as a donation or in lieu of something such as a first off product. I welcome this internet happening with such open arms its the equivalent of democratizing a previously closed environment.
Most venture capital deals or private equity deals for small business require a significant deal value to make the transaction as a whole viable to the entity undertaking the investment. That limits which entities can even hope to look at raising money. Then even when it does go ahead the share structure that results is enough to discourage the most fastidious entrepreneur unless the hockey stick projections have sufficient evidence behind them to make the investor buckle to the sellers terms. That's not the case for the majority of companies seeking capital.
To me Crowd Funding is to investing what George Washington represented to the Colonists in a non independent USA back then. Liberating .