Do you guys think that ShapeWays is "shaping up" to basically become a monopoly in the field of allowing users to 3D Print items, and have them shipped to their homes. At the same time Thingiverse seems to be the one true website where everyone uploads their designs. It is quickly becoming a huge dirrectory of just about anything you could imagine, that you want to print.

Do you think these companies are monopolies?

I personally don't see any other companies being able to come in and compete with either one of them. The printing hardware that ShapeWays owns, has to be worth several million dollars. No startup will be able to even afford the hardware, let alone the advertising dollars it would take to get on the map, and convince people to use them instead of ShapeWays.

Thingiverse, even though they are a Makerbot company seems to be the destination for everyone, whether they own a MakerBot printer or not. It's really a very simple concept, but I can't see how another company could make a competing site that could catch on.

Just wondering what your opinions are.