I’ve been noticing an unsettling trend in the 3D printing world: more and more printer manufacturers are locking down their devices with proprietary firmware, cloud-based software, and other anti-consumer restrictions. Despite this, they still receive glowing reviews, even from tech-savvy communities.
Back in the day, 3D printing was all about open-source hardware, modding, and user control. Now, it feels like we’re heading towards the same path as smartphones and other consumer tech—walled gardens, forced online accounts, and limited third-party compatibility. Some companies even prevent users from using alternative slicers or modifying firmware without jumping through hoops.
My question is: Has 3D printing gone too mainstream? Are newer users simply unaware (or uninterested) in the dangers of locked-down ecosystems? Have we lost the awareness of FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software) and user freedom that once defined this space?
I’d love to hear thoughts from the community. Do you think this is just a phase, or are we stuck on this trajectory? What can we do to push back against enshitification before it’s too late?
(Transparency Note: I wrote this text myself, but since English is not my first language, I used LLM to refine some formulations. The core content and ideas are entirely my own.)
I’d actually recommend the opposite. Unless you’re a DIY hobbyist who loves taking everything apart and you don’t want to print immediately upon receiving it, it’s worth it to buy the prebuilt Prusa. There are so many many steps in assembling a MK4S that there are that many steps to get something wrong. Better pay a few hundred extra to get one that has been assembled by a more experienced person. And I say that as a makerspace coordinator who works with a lot of 3D printers.
Assembly teaches you how incredibly complicated the assembly is. I’ve adjusted pre-assembled printers with minor inconvenience. But the first one you put together can take more than the estimated 6-8 hours.
Troubleshooting after upgrading from mk4 mmu3 to mk4s mmu3 took well over a week despite help from the Prusa forum and support and in that time I had disassembled and reassembled it several times. In the end it was quite trivial and with the help of additional tools (screw clamp to firmly fix the stepper motor of the y-axis for mounting) quickly fixed. Knowing the localization and the interaction of everything with each other would have helped me a lot and certainly saved time. But I don’t even want to deny that you have to be prepared for several hours and several hours of frustration. Instead, you have to follow the planned and most important steps with the exact number of haribo gummy bears and place them correctly on your tongue and get to the process of enjoying them as quickly as possible. If you also opt for a prebuilt, you could also use the core one
I guess this is the disconnect. I’ve assembled one, but I don’t feel like assembling one necessarily conveys this. The instructions just tell you which part to attach to which other part. It doesn’t explain why much of it is important or how it functions.
The other difference is that I haven’t upgraded any. I have some MK3S+ printers that I are likely to remain that way since the upgrades are so expensive and the process so laborious.
For personal use, I’m waiting on the CORE One from Printed Solid but it’s only available for education, government, etc at the moment.