Personally, one of the most exciting things at MakerFaire is the Z-Corp style powder printer starting to show up. I actually think that in the long run, this approach will be the most popular. I actually expect the approach to mature to the point where a full bed of 0.1mm resolution, 0.1 mm layer prints can print at 1.2 mm/min - roughly 60 mm/hour.
http://toybuilderlabs.com/blog/2013/5/19/sandbox-3d-printer
Definitely cool, I also hope for powders that don’t requires any processing after the print. I want to throw the part into a bucket of water and be done with it. No nasty chemicals.
I think powder printers are inherently to messy for that technology to win-out in the long run as a consumer device. Extrusion- and resin-based processes have their own downsides, and I think we’ll eventually end up with either some combination of the techniques, or something completely new.
People said something similar about early days of toner-based copiers. I don’t think it’s an insurmountable problem. I also don’t think it’s going to get there for at least another 5 and years at the earliest.
Hahaha. When I was youn, I dumped the waste toner bin into the toilet… OMG what a disaster (hilarious decades later) that was!
I think the interesting thing for me is the ability to make and use home-brew materials such as salt, sugar, clay, ceramic, even cement to make a greater variety of things… I think the development of these types of printers will also depend on what uses designers find for them.