Manufacturing in the Cloud
Technology that enables human creativity
Shapeways | YouTube
Chris Dixon
The Internet unlocked the world of bits. 3D printing is unlocking the world of atoms.
The Internet dramatically reduced the costs of a number of creative activities.
Publishing was controlled by corporations who acted as creative arbiters. The Internet enabled writers to bypass those corporations, leading to an explosion of creativity and innovation.
Let’s say you are an entrepreneur who has designed a new line of jewelry.
You need to find a factory, commit to a large batch size, and make a significant upfront investment.
It is a risky and expensive endeavor.
Shapeways eliminates the fixed costs of manufacturing.
Using 3D printing, Shapeways manufactures objects in a variety of materials – including metals, ceramics, and plastics – with no upfront costs or minimum batch size.
The results are indistinguishable from – and sometimes superior to – objects manufactured using traditional techniques.
Here’s a short video that shows the revolutionary potential of 3D printing: