Yeah, they really want everyone to love everything but once in a while, they make a rather large misstep. I hope they add a toggle soon to turn Discord off because I have it up in another window anyway and others have no interest.
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What I find interesting about it is that you really shouldn’t be taking your focus completely off your laser - and Discord is designed to grab your attention…if I’m focused on Discord I’m definitely not focused on my laserbed :-/
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Really appreciate you all being such amazing members of the Glowforge community and I hear all of your feedback about the chat window. We are definitely going through the suggestions and thoughts that we are receiving and using it for future product and feature planning. Thank you!
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@emilyhuh ditto on the chat window - not interested in it being there when I’m running a job and I dislike having to hide the window every time. I’d rather see the timer.
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I agree with @LogicGeek , and hope this can be taken as constructive criticism. Changes to the interface should ideally streamline the creative process, not introduce clutter that requires additional clicks for users to complete more projects. A social component can be as much of a hindrance and distraction to many of us as it is a helpful one to others. Simply adding an option to minimize/hide like any other saved preference would make a world of a difference.
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I’m in agreement here. This is something that feels like it is being forced on me. Please understand that many people are aware of and want to control the amount and kind of communication that is in their lives. It’s really just noise when I’m trying to concentrate on my complex and intricate projects. Having to hide it every time is NOT a solution. Please consider making this an opt-in or one time opt out. Thank you
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We definitely hear your feedback and appreciate you sending it along to us. I’ve been documenting all of this and sending to the team for their review. Thank you!
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Maybe the solution is to put it as an option like the Dashboard, Catalog, Shop, Community and Support are. Then if someone want to go to the Chat, all they’d have to do is click on it, just like they do Community.
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Although I’ve been active on Discord since the GF channel was set up, yesterday was the first time I used my GF since the change.
I ran a complex production job that required three separate jigs and a many-layered (ok, -colored) file to create a series of bespoke Christmas presents a client had commissioned.
The entire process took all day, and each time I was presented by random snippets out of the Discord stream of consciousness. For a long time, it was dominated by diatribes on the pros & cons of AI image creation and crimes against digital artists. Not relevant to the task at hand and quite distracting/annoying. By the end I was cringing every time I hit Print and so immediately clicked hide.
Please, please, please add a permanent toggle as others have suggested. The GFUI is essentially my workplace, and having Discord take up a third of it is akin to having a flock of geese honking cocktail party in the lobby.
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Completely hear you about the Discord chat window and please know that your comments and everyone else’s feedback is being passed along to the team, so I do appreciate you letting us know!
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I see what you did there… too many secrets Marty…
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Busted! I love that movie…
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THIS. It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen! If I were an attorney for Glowforge, I would advise them to take that down immediately –
– because obviously, by including a chat in the interface, they clearly signal that they don’t actually mean “It’s important that you keep watch on your Glowforge while it is printing,” and neither want nor expect users to do so.
They leave themselves wide open to legal action should harm come to person or property when a user has not been monitoring their GF.
I am frankly astonished that they OK’ed this. It could cost them dearly, and I predict this will be gone very soon for precisely this reason
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while i agree that it’s annoying and distracting and should be made optional, i think you’d have a hard time trying to prove liability in a lawsuit. you’re responsible for your own actions (or lack of actions).
again, i think forcing it there and not giving people an out is a bad thing. but it’s not legally negligent.
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It undermines their own instructions. You can’t simultaneously argue that proper use involves paying attention, and then introduce a feature that is designed to… capture user attention.
Imagine I decide to “join the conversation” while printing, something catches fire, and I sue glowforge. Would you take the chance that a judge or jury agrees that it’s all my fault, because I have been told “it’s important to keep watch” on the laser?
Or might a judge or jury agree with me that not only did GF not intend for me to “keep watch” – but actually interfered with my ability to keep watch? (And so are liable for damages)
Your power tools might as well pop up a packet of codeine and pseudoephedrine every time you power up lol. Or perhaps your auto dealership could offer a celebratory cocktail each time you turn they keys in your ignition?
I mean, sure, you shouldn’t drink and drive. But… mixed messages, much? From a legal perspective, it renders meaningless the instruction to monitor the machine, and if I were advising GF, I would tell them to scrap it ASAP
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i would take that risk legally because they’re not responsible for your issue with focus of attention.
again, i hate that thing there and i’ve made my views clear both here and on discord, as have many others. but it does not meet the legal level of negligence.
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Respectfully and cheerfully, I wholeheartedly disagree! It’s actually worse than (mere) negligence: Not only could a case meet the legal criteria for a negligence suit (duty, breach of duty, causes harm, etc. – google it) but since “join the conversation” contradicts “monitor your print,” GF could be held strictly liable for a failure to adequately warn users regarding safe use of their product.
That is, I wouldn’t even have to show that GF was careless: I’d just need to show that I followed their suggestion that I “join the conversation” and that led to harm. That’s pretty much all I’d need to show in court for them to be liable for damages. (Google “strict products liability” and “failure to warn” FYI. These laws put the onus on manufacturers and sellers to protect consumers.)
So, quite risky for a company like this. Even if they weren’t found to be strictly liable or even negligent, someone getting hurt while using the machine is pretty much the worst thing that could happen to GF. Imagine the social media coverage and lost sales! Penny wise and pound foolish IMO. If safe operation requires the user to monitor the machine, they need to be clear and consistent in their messaging.
Cheers 
1 Like
all i can say is, good luck finding a lawyer to take that case or a judge to allow it. everyone talks a big game about lawsuits, very few of them actually get filed, let alone won.
Is that your opinion as an attorney?
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Law school grad. Not an attorney and my posts here neither constitute nor should be construed as actual legal advice 
However, given my understanding of the law (this is basic basic 1st year law school stuff) – I am astonished that they would expose themselves like this for a feature that we all seem to hate lol
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