John Dvorak is irritated. Very irritated. Columnist for PCMag.com, and a well-know writer on technology for what seems decades, is sick and tired of the hype surrounding 3D printing. Here’s how he began yesterday’s PCMag article, Enough With the 3D Printer Hype Already:

Are you tired of the hype surrounding the 3D printer? Well I am.

While the 3D printer may eventually become an important part of the manufacturing arsenal, it isn’t yet. And if you’ve played with or looked at 3D printers, it’s plain to see their byproducts are pretty crude.

I understand the practical uses for these devices in the future, but who knows when this future will emerge. It’s not current, that’s for sure.

Ouch. Someone’s a cranky geek (he does the weekly TV video podcast CrankyGeeks)!

He’s sick of all the talk about 3D printed plastic guns and of 3D printed food. Yes, the media has overplayed the gun, and 3D printed food isn’t going to be a game changer. Interesting, though, that he picked those topics rather than all the breakthroughs we read about in this blog, in such things as bioprinting, aerospace, prototyping, custom manufacturing and the many other useful applications of additive manufacturing.

But there is something that he would be pleased to see 3D printed, something practical. And he’s challenged engineers to design and print it. What is this thing that will show him that 3D printing does indeed have merit? A squirt gun.

Here is a challenge for you engineers: make a workable plastic squirt gun and show that off, then you’ll at least have something practical.

There you go, dear readers. Someone want to show Mr. Dvorak how its done?