been able to use tools to hack our world. An axe cutting into wood is a rather literal example of this. Most anyone can use an axe. But, to make something functional or beautiful requires skill as well as special equipment. Only an artist with a fine chisel will be able to make a wooden spoon for example. This task would be difficult if not impossible for you or I today.

      230 years ago(or so) most objects were made like that, through sheer skill by artisans. These people custom engineered every good and object that was sold. People at that time, and earlier, were also much more self-reliant than we are today working with the technology of the day to construct their own housing, transport and clothing. Every object that you had at that time was either made by you or custom made in a series of one by an artisan for you.

      The industrial revolution changed all this, creating mass produced 'one size fits all' products that were widely available and became more complex. Little by little we were alienated from our technology to the point that today we are unable to fix our own cars or televisions because these items have become so technologically advanced that repairing them is almost impossible. We've come to the point where even switching out parts is difficult and some devices even seem engineered in such a way as to be difficult to repair.

      We traded a world where products were in limited supply but custom made, for one where products were abundant but fit for the masses. We traded functionality for price, form fit for quantity. Initially this made sense but currently we live in a world with a superabundance of goods where for most people utility choices are made based upon what logo is stamped on those goods.

      However happy having a polo player on your chest makes you would it not be better to choose something based on how well it worked for you? In a world where everything you own has thousands if not millions of copies would not uniqueness win over ubiquity? However captivated you are by a particular trend would it not be better to design something that looks precisely as you would want it?

      My answer to those questions will probably not be a surprise. “'Expletive deleted', Yeah” is the short version. The reason why the Shapeways Creator is significant is not that it will make a lot of people happy by being a unique gift or that it is a 3D printed. It is significant because personal manufacturing and mass customization became possible at Shapeways first.

      Of course there are a lot of places where you can get someone to customize something for you or where you can tweak a certain item within particular constraints. There are also several services that allow you to order something made by someone or where a designer sells products made by a production partner to you directly.

      We are well aware of great projects such as Puma's Mongolian Shoe Bar-B-Q that have been around for years and allow a person to customize an existing design. The difference with Shapeways though is that not only can the consumer customize the design but a designer can submit his design to us so that it can be customized.

      There is a separation of concern(or was it separation of concerns) between designing the item itself and customizing it. A designer can make a Shapeways Shape and another person can play around with this shape in such a way as to make it perfect for them. For the first time the skilled artisan and the regular person(or consumer, but I hate that word) can work together to make products. Consumer choice is now not a question of selecting from a menu but rather one of cooking up whatever you want to have.

      It is early days yet and it will take some time until the process will be able to produce a lot of designs. It will also take several years for the materials and machines to catch up with people's dreams. But, there is a future out there and were one of the groups of people that are working hard to make that future possible. We like the fact that we were there first but it will take years for Shapeways and the other fellow travelers who are doing similar things to turn mass customization from something that you could do in some cases into something that you will do often.