<p>Comparing trends show that 3D printing stepped over to another level around 2012~2013. Why?</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/9tFj9.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/9tFj9.png" alt="3D printing vs 3D scanning" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/N488f.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/N488f.png" alt="3D printer vs 3D scanner" /></a></p>

[{'answer_id': 15807, 'author': '0scar', 'author_id': 5740, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/5740', 'pm_score': 5, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p>A great story on the history of 3D printing is published by <a href="https://www.3dsourced.com/guides/history-of-3d-printing/" rel="noreferrer">3DSOURCED</a>. It shows that the patents for FDM and SLA expired a few years earlier and the <a href="https://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap" rel="noreferrer">RepRap</a> 3D printer self replicating project became very popular. Also, 3D printer manufacturers emerged and electronics, software and parts became available at a larger scale, so that it was more affordable for a hobbyist to dive in.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 15943, 'author': 'user3405291', 'author_id': 11091, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/11091', 'pm_score': 0, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>Another opinion received:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>That’s the result of MakerBot and others promoting the tech to the general public for the first time after the patents expired. They were just running up stock prices to make a lot of money</p>\n</blockquote>\n'}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15806', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/11091/']