Today at Inside 3D printing in New York, Makerbot CEO Jonathan Jaglom announced an expansion of their interface for developers to create applications that integrate with their file sharing service, Thingiverse. While Makerbot already had an existing API for developers, the new expansion creates deeper integrations and opens up new possibilities.
One of the first integrations announced is an expansion of Makerbot’s partnership with 3D Hubs. Previously, only a select handful of designers could opt to allow their designs to be directly printed via the 3D Hubs platform, now any designer can choose to allow their designs to be printed via 3D Hubs distributed printing platform.
The new integrations also include a payments system where designers can choose to force payments for commercial integrations. If the integrated app charges for its service, the designer can require that they are paid also. This doesn’t change the default model of Thingiverse where all things are free, but it does allow designers to have a way to begin making money for their designs.
While none of the announcements are going to bring about a groundbreaking change to Thingiverse, this is the first big change we have seen to the platform in some time and shows a commitment by Makerbot and their parent company Stratasys to continue expanding Thingiverse.
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