For a long time we have believed that 3D printing technology must lower its prices if it wants to increase adoption, but we never imagined it would reach such a cost so quickly. The people behind the 101Hero project promise a ready-to-use 3D printer for just $49, and all the user has to do is load the model to print onto an SD memory card. The big question is whether something like this can become a reality.
Those of us who carry a few years on our backs know that the first inkjet printers cost a true fortune. Thousands and thousands of dollars to replace the noisy (but effective) dot matrix printers. Then the same thing happened with the first laser printers, and even today they haven't become a "massive" option, so to speak. Finally, we arrived at 3D printers. Adding a dimension to the printing process not only posed a huge challenge to developers, but also drove costs back up due to the complexity of the designs and the new rules imposed by the materials used.
But the people behind the 101Hero project are offering a 3D printer for $49. That's a price similar to an all-in-one printer on Amazon. At first glance, we find some limits. The most important is that in the $49 version, the printer does not connect to the computer, but rather reads the model to print through an SD card. Even so, the company has functional prototypes, and explains that the 101Hero is compatible with different types of filaments, assuming they are 1.75 millimeters. In total, the printer weighs no more than two kilograms, and from what we can observe, it wouldn't be very difficult to obtain a spare part.
As expected, the 101Hero campaign flew through Kickstarter. They were asking for just $20,000 to move to the next production phase, and with twelve days left they already had more than $250,000. The $49 and $54 models are completely sold out, and anyone who wants one now must pay a minimum of $74, or $79 if they prefer the printer to connect to a computer. Deliveries will begin between October and November of this year, with worldwide shipping. Personally, we wish them the best, but our doubts are reasonable. We've seen many 3D printer projects blow up in their creators' faces, and we don't want history to repeat itself with 101Hero.
