The marketing job on this machine is both brilliant and completely misleading. I guess what's brilliant is the fact it's misleading. Using buzz words that create an illusion of the machine being something it isn't is dishonest at best and illegal at worst. I'm also baffled by how they convinced people to fork over their hard earned money so that they could develop a laser that basically already exists, more or less. I'm pretty much 100% against GoFundMe business models so I lose a lot of respect for the business right off the bat for that.
As for the machine itself, I think it looks okay for $2000. It's a tool and it will be sold to people looking for a tool. This will not end up in every household. I see it marketed towards hobbyists in general, and honestly, that's a market sector I don't care about. They don't have money to spend but typically want a lot in return. I also see this being used in engineering, design, and architectural firms which is a market sector I rarely deal with and again, don't care if they go somewhere else. The few times I've worked with them, I found them difficult to work with. So am I concerned about my bottom line? Not especially. I already have people working out of their garage all around me and it hurts my business but I don't think this magically makes someone want to start an engraving business.
Feature wise:
No exhaust and no air assist but being marketed as a laser cutter is dangerous to me. I've used a laser for a long time without air assist. I know you can do it safely but I also know you have to monitor the machine and exhaust is ultra important to keep the chance of burning your machine alive to a minimum. Simply put, you cannot safely run a laser without an exhaust and I don't know how this machine is legally sold without explicitly telling consumers they must add an exhaust setup.
I personally think the cloud based software is completely unnecessary. Why can't you simply load the software onto your machine and have the machine communicate with a central server daily/weekly to check for updates? I think tech people don't live in the real world sometimes. I have internet access nearly 24/7 but that's not the case everywhere. Some people in rural areas are on dial up and struggle to get decent internet from their cell phone providers. Some people get bad connections because of their building or simply just being in a dead spot. What if my net is down for the day because of work being done? I can't use my laser? Going cloud based is completely unnecessary.
Personally, I think the best feature I saw was the overhead camera. I'd really like that feature. I think it would be incredibly useful to me on a nearly daily basis. I doubt how well it works, but the ability to draw something on the machine and have it follow the line I would find useful as well, especially when making jigs and things like that.
In the end, I think people will buy the machine and the machine will probably work fine. I expect some people to be really excited with the results and others to be entirely disappointed. Once again, the end product is down to how creative you are and how well you can create the artwork to create your vision. This is where most people will fail.
Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving