Solidoodle has garnered attention from Fast Company, ABC, USA Today, and Wired, among other news and tech outlets for its dedication to desktop, consumer 3D printing. For under $1,000 the latest 3D printer can be on your desk in less than a week. Older and/or refurbished models are available from as low as $299. This pricing puts it within the same range as a consumer DSLR camera and even some color printers, for example. A partnership with the distributor Wynit, in April 2014, has given them an expanded retail presence and their printers pop up as the first option in a search for “3D printer” on sites like bestbuy.com.
Sam Cervantes, company CEO described his company’s commitment to consumer printing in this way:
“Our primary aim has always been to take 3D printing mainstream to the consumer by making this technology accessible for the average person. To increase accessibility, we’ve focused our resources on product innovations for a more seamless printing experience as well as new features our customers are requesting. We’re also working on new software to streamline the 3D printing process for our customers, and continued development of our Solidoodles platform to provide the community with more ways to share and collaborate on 3D printing”
The Solidoodle U initiative that was launched in April 2014 is a discounted package designed to help place 3D printing technologies in classrooms. Rather than just providing the technology by way of their 3D printers, and hoping that the school has access to the curriculum to support it, Solidoodle has gone the extra mile by investing the time necessary to create a downloadable curriculum that is freely available, whether you purchase the equipment or not.
The company has also set several goals that they wish to accomplish over the next six months, which include the following:
- Auto-calibration features
- New hardware features
- New 3D printing software
- New material filament capabilities
- New features and capabilities for the Solidoodles design community
Here at 3Dprint.com, we wish Solidoodle a happy birthday and many happy returns! Discuss this story, and Solidoodle in general, in the Solidoodle forum at 3DPB.com