Glowforge release

[Lee DeRaud]

I would be willing to bet that the "A-ha!" moment had nothing to do with hardware, or engineering...

One thing though: developing cloud-based apps is vastly easier than developing real-time embedded software, although I suspect they ended up doing a lot more firmware development than they wanted to.

[Jerome Stanek]

The fact that they want you to use their Proof grade material t several times the price of the same thing from anywhere else.

[Matt McCoy]

The fact that they want you to use their Proof grade material t several times the price of the same thing from anywhere else.

You can use material from any preferred source. No one is required to use their Proofgrade products.

[Jerome Stanek]

You can use material from any preferred source. No one is required to use their Proofgrade products.

Yes but they recommend proof grade and I see that they have problems cutting through that with the recommended settings. Also if the material isn't perfectly flat they are having big problems but the biggest problem being that the alignment on the material that is off. They complain about wasting expensive material.

[Matt McCoy]

The fact that they want you to use their Proof grade material t several times the price of the same thing from anywhere else.

Yes but they recommend proof grade and I see that they have problems cutting through that with the recommended settings. Also if the material isn't perfectly flat they are having big problems but the biggest problem being that the alignment on the material that is off. They complain about wasting expensive material.

Probably confirmation bias, I'm afraid. I don't see the word "recommend" anywhere, but in your post, so probably nothing as dastardly as you imagine. I might have missed it, though. They do, however, recommend other places to source materials, besides their Proofgrade. Here is what the GF FAQ says from the link on the homepage.

"Do I need to buy Proofgrade™ materials for my Glowforge?

Definitely not! Inventables sells a wide variety of material that they market as laser-compatible, and you can find a huge number of reliable suppliers of hardwoods, acrylics, paper, cardboard, and more both locally and online."

I suppose one could even use the Trotec-branded materials in their GF, if they were so inclined. I understand that they are excellent quality, but not cheap.

[Kev Williams]

...Why not set yourself up to be able to sell the machine for $3,500 in the future with a "nominal" $99.95 monthly fee for access to the Glowforge cloud? At least that's where I see this going...

$99.95 a month just to use a machine? ANY machine? Holy crap... 14 of my 15 machines are used at least once a week, and even though their combined ages is about 295 years, I don't spend that much a month for maintenance on all of them combined!

[Matt McCoy]

$99.95 a month just to use a machine? ANY machine? Holy crap... 14 of my 15 machines are used at least once a week, and even though their combined ages is about 295 years, I don't spend that much a month for maintenance on all of them combined!

Might be a moot discussion. From the forum:

"We don't have any subscription service planned. Even if that changes, though, the launch product won't require any subscription, ever."

and

"If you are a current customer, you won’t be required to pay a subscription fee for the features we advertised when you purchased it."

[Bert Kemp]

Proof grade material may not be specifically recommended but it is implied that you'll get better results with proof grade. So the uniformed Moms and dads, oh my gosh I must get these proof grade to get got results. More BS marketing to rake in more doe.

Probably confirmation bias, I'm afraid. I don't see the word "recommend" anywhere, but in your post, so probably nothing as dastardly as you imagine. I might have missed it, though. They do, however, recommend other places to source materials, besides their Proofgrade. Here is what the GF FAQ says from the link on the homepage.

"Do I need to buy Proofgrade™ materials for my Glowforge?

Definitely not! Inventables sells a wide variety of material that they market as laser-compatible, and you can find a huge number of reliable suppliers of hardwoods, acrylics, paper, cardboard, and more both locally and online."

I suppose one could even use the Trotec-branded materials in their GF, if they were so inclined. I understand that they are excellent quality, but not cheap.

[Jerome Stanek]

Might be a moot discussion. From the forum:

"We don't have any subscription service planned. Even if that changes, though, the launch product won't require any subscription, ever."

and

"If you are a current customer, you won’t be required to pay a subscription fee for the features we advertised when you purchased it."

Yeah the features slow rendering, misalignment, slow cutting and engraving, can't use the full bed, can't use below or above a certain temperature and problems rotating design great features.

[Lee DeRaud]

"If you are a current customer, you won’t be required to pay a subscription fee for the features we advertised when you purchased it."

Translation: "The features we advertised when you purchased it may never work satisfactorily, but at least you won't need to pay a subscription fee to not get them."

[Jerome Stanek]

The feature that would kill me is the 60 degree cold and the 75 degree hot temps that I can't maintain in my shop.

[Mike Henry3424]

Might be a moot discussion. From the forum:

"We don't have any subscription service planned. Even if that changes, though, the launch product won't require any subscription, ever."

and

"If you are a current customer, you won’t be required to pay a subscription fee for the features we advertised when you purchased it."

And what happens if the CEO changes or GF gets sold to another company? Will those "promises" still be honored? Also, what happened to the firmware release that GF was supposed to make when they started shipping units?

[Art Mann]

I would be more worried about the company going bankrupt than any promises they are now making. If the company doesn't exist then sincerely and honestly made promises are worthless. Other brands are still worth having even if the company goes away.

[Bill George]

I would be more worried about the company going bankrupt than any promises they are now making. If the company doesn't exist then sincerely and honestly made promises are worthless. Other brands are still worth having even if the company goes away.

I am going to guess, and I am not the first one that the company will be sold and when the management changes so will the charges and fees. It might even be sold at a bankruptcy sale.

[Mike Henry3424]

I am going to guess, and I am not the first one that the company will be sold and when the management changes so will the charges and fees. It might even be sold at a bankruptcy sale.

Bingo - that's my guess, too. In the CEO's book, he mentioned that every startup is for sale, pretty much from the time it is first formed.