Fascinating! @executivul, I went in the exact opposite direction! Being a woodworker geek, I built a CNC router which worked well, but didn't have the resolution I needed for gears and hubs and such. And it wouldn't do aluminum
I then went to an 'inexpensive' laser cutter/engraver and spent another 75% and a lot of time getting it 'useful' and have actually made some useful, attractive, and interesting things.
Finally, this past holiday, I was somehow drawn into 3D printing and 'gave' a 3D printer to my family. All were sort of, uh, interested/grateful, until I showed them some stuff we could do with it. So far, I and two daughters are coming up with a host of things to make. My wife is surprised by what we've done, and that, alone, is a major accomplishment!
Net: I've done interesting things with all three of the devices you've mentioned, but I have never felt so 'liberated' as I feel with a 3D printer. Literally, if I can envision it, I can now make it. Just the other day, as I was struggling to try to decide what torque a motor I needed to operate at to control a shutoff valve, I realized that I didn't have an adapter that allowed my small torque wrench to operate the large nut on the valve. Easy peasy as we say in 3D printing world - I simply printed one and, an hour later (including design, conversion, print time) I had my adapter and measured the torque. It would have taken me that long to drive to the nearest store that wouldn't have even had the adapter I needed!
Call me a zealot, I'll 'fess up. But I'm astounded at how much I've used this little device... But I will also admit to being the 'drug pusher' that Joe has fallen prey to...
Tom
PS: to Felix, a 'fabrication' kind of category might be a good thing!