The humble beginnings and ambitious future of 3d printing @ Engadget.

As far back as 1860, a 3D “printing” of sorts was already in the works. It was called “photosculpture” and was invented by Francois Willeme. He even made it a commercially successful business for several years. Clients posed in the center of a rotunda, encircled by 24 cameras (hidden in statues). Each camera angle produced a 1/24th sliver of contours that were cut away from a material. With a little finessing of the final product, the results were not too bad. 

Read more – 13 slides, including some MakerBot.

The earnings report hit last week on 10/22/2015… From WSJ:

Stratasys Ltd. warned it will post a sharply wider third-quarter loss as it writes off the value of MakerBot, a Brooklyn startup it had bought two years ago with hopes of bringing 3-D printing to the masses. The company, which headquarters in Israel and Minnesota, said Thursday it would adjust the book value of MakerBot by $140 million to $180 million, exhausting the unit’s remaining goodwill. It warned it may have to adjust the value of other units amid a market slowdown, which it partly blamed on a supply glut following a surge in sales in 2013 and 2014.

Stratasys and 3D Systems Corp., which together accounted for more than a third of industry sales last year, have discarded their financial projections for the year.

Goodwill is a premium paid for a company above its market value. Goodwill adjustments don’t impact cash flow, but highlight management’s past mistakes.