I met the folks from Shapeways at a press reception for demoing cool new things back quite a long time ago. I was given a promo to create a small object. However, when I tried to do it, it was so buggy that I finally gave up--after numerous conversations with the PM and their support person. I would imagine it has evolved a long way since then.

btw, interesting that your dad was also very taken by the same Economist article.