{"id":1155,"date":"2012-01-10T18:42:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T18:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/archives\/1155-a-portal-into-the-future-2011-in-review-and-whats-to-come.html"},"modified":"2014-07-03T17:15:07","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:15:07","slug":"a-portal-into-the-future-2011-in-review-and-whats-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/a-portal-into-the-future-2011-in-review-and-whats-to-come","title":{"rendered":"A Portal into the Future: 2011 in Review, and What’s to Come"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen dozens of journalists and bloggers dub 3D printing and personalized production “the next big thing,” including David Rowan of Wired<\/a>, Daniel Teridman of CNET<\/a>, and Robert Cyran of Reuters<\/a>. Similarly, at CES, our peers have been announcing impressive strides toward improving 3D printing devices<\/a> and making the technology more accessible. <\/p>\n

The excitement is palpable, and taking a look at our growth over the last year proves that it’s not just hype. The rapidly growing Shapeways community – comprised of designers, makers, hackers, enthusiasts and shoppers – demonstrates that “creative commerce”<\/a> and the widespread demand for personalized products are rapidly on the rise. <\/p>\n

2011 was a massive year at Shapeways. We saw a huge growth in the number of community members, models uploaded, products 3D printed, shops opened and income earned by Shapeways shop owners.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A quick scan of the numbers:<\/p>\n