Although there has been an incredible amount of progress made within the 3D printing space these last few years, it’s often hard to remember that 3D printing has actually been around for over 30 years. It was only the last four to five years that the phrase “3D print” has become relatively common within media and tech circles, and that consumer-level machines actually became affordable, but many of those working in the manufacturing space have been aware of the technology for quite a while.
I thought it would be fun to take a step back and enter the internet’s time machine, Archive.org. What Archive.org does is archive websites dating back as far as the 1990s. I can spend literally hours examining how some of the most popular companies’ websites have developed over the years, if they even had a website back then. I thought it would be fun to hop in our time machines and go back a decade or two to look at how one of the largest 3D printing companies’ site has progressed, and what machines were being sold over the past 19 years. Below you will see what 3D Systems’ website looked like over the last 19 years. Click the thumbnail next to each date to enlarge the image:
Oct. 1999: Fast forward three years and the website has improved a bit. Now they are directly touting their Thermojet printers, which they claim, “Produce impressive models in hours, not weeks. The ThermoJet printer is fully networkable; with the click of a button, everyone in your office can create 3-D models from their desktops. You can even print to WAN-connected ThermoJet printers in other locations around the world for ‘3-D faxing’ capability!”
Aug. 2002: For about three years the general layout of 3D Systems’ website remained relatively unchanged. That’s until 2002 when a makeover took place. The latest edition of their site points out their 2002 2nd quarter earnings where the company reported revenue of $28.8 million and a net loss of $6.0 million. The company now blatantly makes it known that they offer SLS, SLA, and Thermojetting machines. These machines include their ‘new’ Viper si2 SLA system, and their ‘highly sophisticated’ SLA 7000 printer. Check out the Viper si2 SLA system at the top right.
In just 19 years we have seen a tremendous amount of progress from the company as well as the industry in general. As further competition enters, the rate of progress should only increase. I wonder what we will be saying about 3D Systems’ current website and offerings in another 19 years. I can’t wait until 2034 so we can find out!
Let’s hear your thoughts on this story, and how the market and 3D Systems has progressed since 1996. Discuss in the 3D Systems’ Website 96-Present forum thread on 3DPB.com.