Well, I think that in the long (very long) term this will result in the manipulation of the physical world as easily as we copy and manipulate bits on a computer today. And that will be an even bigger revolution (IMO) than the digital revolution has been.

But in the short term, the only place where this makes sense is for one off items, where it brings the cost of production down nicely. Just like FPGAs versus statically designed microchips (I'm not sure what the right word is for that), intersting niches will be advanced by printing, but advances in mass production probably will have more impact on global wealth.

Don't get me wrong - I'm going to be taking a holiday next year to build a reprap, so I'm a believer in this technology - I just think it'll be used in specific niches and by hobbiests for a long time to come.

PS - About Rock Solid, I'm cofounder and a developer, yes.