This month’s Inc. magazine has a great feature on Ponoko, the ingenious company of New Zealand entrepreneur David ten Have (a wonderful name). The basic idea is a laser cutter hooked up to the internet:
A magazine rack from Ponoko (designed by allesprodukt)
designers can send their flat designs over to ten Have’s laser cutters, which can cut a product out of the flat material of choice. Pokono takes it a step farther by adding an Etsy-like sales tool, which allows users to post their designs for ordering by customers. Ponoko then manufactures on demand, shipping the finished goods to the end customer or to the designer, if other assembly is required. Designers can charge just for the cost of goods (giving their designs away for free) or they can add their fee to the Pokono price.
Mag Cloud offers similar services for magazine printing, which makes me want to become a publisher of peculiar collections. I can’t decide whether to celebrate this as the long tail theory working brilliantly or whether I am sad about the decline of traditional print. Either way, for creative types it is an exciting opportunity to experiment with new designs without having to commit to huge R&D costs.
We will probably experiment with Pokono for new products or displays, and it will certainly be utilized for the holiday gift making.
“holiday gift making”
what was it and how did it turn out?
Jeff