Ponoko - Make what you want!
I would like to introduce the world to Ponoko.com, one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. They allow anyone to easily design physical products, have them custom made, even just one at a time and give people the ability to sell them through their marketplace. So, have an idea for a new kitchen sink? Make it with konoko. Seriously, this is amazing. They use some sort of fancy laser (death rays?) to make the goods. It is a revolution in manufacturing and I think could be a huge business.
I interviewed Derek Elley over the phone and I no longer remember exactly what he said so he emailed me the following: “Armed with nothing more than an idea, professional and hobbiest designers, makers, crafters, hackers and artists can turn their ideas into real products - and new revenue streams - using our web commerce and digital make-on-demand services. No upfront costs. No minimum orders. No inventory. Simply click to design, make, sell and deliver your creativity to the world, at your own speed. his means buyers can search for and buy the most original of things from around the world. And what’s even more amazing, you can download, mashup and click to make product plans into goods completely individualized to you.
Ponoko manages every detail for you to trade original user-generated digital and physical products. This service includes a personal web showroom for you to show, share or sell your stuff, a personal online factory for you to ‘click to make‘, hosting, secure payment processing, order management, on-demand production, fulfillment, customer service and online sharing tools.”
Wow.
