Tim Maly on Technology Review approaches 3D-printing with the distance it probably still deserves, arguing it is in its very early stages. Still, he concludes with the same thought I have had myself recently:
Something interesting happens when the cost of tooling-up falls. There comes a point where your production runs are small enough that the economies of scale that justify container ships from China stop working. There comes a point where making new things isn’t a capital investment but simply a marginal one. Fab shops are already popping up, just like print shops did.