04. 04. 2008
Become an instant Internet entreprenuer thanks to Ponoko and co.
The Internet lets us do all manner of things: send emails, write blogs and of course, run manufacturing businesses in conjunction with companies halfway across the world.
Wait, what was that last one again?
Wired reports that a growing number of entrepreneurs (who they cutely call "instapreneurs") are using sites like Zazzle, which will make your design into a t-shirt for general retail, Blurb, which will knock you up a book and Ponoko, which will make up anything from a pair of earrings like the ones pictured above, to a large-scale item of furniture. And they will make as many or as few as you like.
Just upload your blueprint to the site, and Ponoko's laser cutters will get to work making a chair, table, jigsaw, lamp, piece of jewellery or any other design to your exact specifications. Using this system, anyone willing to offset the cost of manufacturing and shipping (Ponoko is based in New Zealand) has the potential to make a mint. The potential for small businesses - who now don't have to stump up for manufacturing and storage - is huge, although the implications for the manufacturing industry could be a little less rosy.
Posted by diane
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