Could Martha Stewart take 3D printing mainstream, wondered a few professional internet writers yesterday, when 3D printing company MakerBot announced that Martha Stewart Living had created a line of colors and printable designs for the company's machines? Probably not, unless we've seriously underestimated the product magnetism of branded shades of 3D printer filament ("Lemon Drop," "Robin's Egg," and "Jadeite"), and the Stewart-approved coasters, napkin rings, and place-card clamps you can now create at a MakerBot machine.
In attempting to gauge the effects of this collab, it might be useful to explore the effects Stewart has had on the public perception of drones and iPads, which is to make them fit for jokes on and about Twitter. Stewarts very game approach to new technology is commendable, and it makes intuitive sense, that the very robotic lifestyle doyenne would find comfort in machines, but it doesn't quite sound like an industry game changer.
In a statement, Stewart celebrated 3D printing's enabling of "cost-effective product design without compromising artisanal character." Latticed LED-candle holders in pastel colors printable on machines costing thousands of dollars—what could be more cost effective or "artisanal" than that?
· Martha May Make MakerBot Mainstream [Core77]