Discussion of mid-March 2018 update

Everything Else
124

You never know what the logic is. Maybe they want to get rid of US-only units as quickly as possible so they can deplete their US-only parts and move to units that can be sold anywhere. It may not seem like a big thing, but I’m constantly amazed at how hard it is to manage stuff like two models.

Maybe they figured $2000 * N units in not booked profit was a cheaper way to reach new customers by getting hundreds (thousands?) of people tweeting/facebooking/instagramming/ello’ing cool stuff you can do at home too as opposed to paying for an advertising campaign.

The new higher prices (that were just lowered) seemed to be a MSRP through retail channels. Perhaps a big-box distribution deal isn’t in the offing soon and so they’re just selling around what their wholesale price will be.

There are lots of reasonable explanations.

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125

Joe Random could not care less about the years someone else waited for theirs. He wants to know a) if the product is any good and b) when he will get his. If he thinks the product is amazing and he will get it in two weeks, why does he care that it took 2+ years to get that point?

Because a Glowforge isn’t a a product so much as it’s a relationship. It doesn’t work without minute-to-minute engagement with Glowforge-the-company. Furthermore, for most people it’s a major purchase, and a lot of those people are justifying that purchase by making the thing part of their livelihood. Joe isn’t buying the thing and walking away with it. Joe is buying into it.

If you have a Glowforge, you have no certainty that you’ll be notified in advance of radical changes in how the cloud service works. In fact I think your best bet is that you will not be notified, any more than people have been given significant advance notice of any of the repeated pushings-back of claimed delivery dates.

If and when Glowforge decides to completely shut down the cloud, I expect to get maybe a month’s notice. If they decide to remove a feature I rely on, I expect to get less, and I wouldn’t be surprised to get zero notice. [On edit: same if they decided there was suddenly going to be a prohibitive fee for its use.]

If they decide to completely change the lineup of available ProofGrade material, I’d expect about the same. Same if they decide to eliminate spares, come out with a new model and drop most support for the current one, or just plain outright go out of business.

And I would drop dead from shock if in any of those cases they did anything to help anybody by letting go of their death grip on any of the IPR and allowing self support or aftermarket support. If God Himself came down from on high and told them that they’d never make another nickel off of some “trade secret” and that they and everybody else would be better off if they released it, I’d expect them to tell him to drop dead.

This is a big investment for Joe Random. He wants to know that he’s going to make a reasonable return on it, and that he’s not going to be left scrambling at the last second. Especially if it’s for his business.

Glowforge does not see its customers as important participants in its ongoing business. It’s alienated a lot of the first generation and I don’t see why I wouldn’t expect it to alienate future ones.

126

UPS MyChoice only works for residential addresses. I guess your college isn’t residential :thinking::woman_student::houses:

127

a “temporary referral discount” is not the same as a “price cut.”

price cut implies that anyone can order at that price, as well as that it’s a new set price. but if buyers don’t have a referral code, thats price isn’t available (still shows $7000 on the GF site). and it’s a short-term program meant to move a specific set of inventory, not a new price.

the temporary referral discount is likely being used to drum up attention now that they’re finished with all the preorders from US buyers.

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128

There’s a “Glowsplanation” if I ever heard one! :wink:

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129

Congratulations!

130

call it what you want. i haven’t been an ardent defender of GF. there are plenty of things to bash them for, but if you’re going to do it, at least be accurate.

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131

Yeah, I am trying to change that with UPS since there are porch pirates who regularly follow UPS trucks around here. My unit will get delivered to the college, but I cannot use the UPS MyChoice account for scheduling deliveries that are not to my home. At this point, I am not going to worry about it. I’m looking forward to getting started with art ideas I have been unable to accomplish because the technology did not exist or I did not have access to it.

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132

They did say price cuts are coming. It’s unclear whether the new price will be the same as the temporarily discounted price. I think it will be.

TBH, I’m not super worried about the future of Glowforge. I think the pre-order price was the right one, and double that is a bit much to pay in today’s market. It’s still a disruptive product but it needs to be priced where people who never thought they could own a laser are willing to make the jump.

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133

Thanks for that info. I have been wondering about the differences between the US and Canada. I always thought both countries were on board with the same safety rules and regulations. After some in depth reading I see it is a very convoluted path to certification and each country certainly does have its own hoops to jump through. I wonder then why they allow anyone to purchase a device and drive it across the border if it doesn’t meet the certification requirements?

134

Technically they don’t. There are just too many things. A border guard cannot be expected to know all of them. They’re trained to keep out agricultural pests, collect duties and keep out illicit substances you can snort, inject, smoke or otherwise ingest. After that it’s hit and miss (probably an over simplification but not by much.) We came back into the US from Saskatchewan once and had a long chat with US border agents. Not because I think they suspected us of anything, but because they were bored. It was a lonely outpost with no other crossings while we were there. I also passed into the US at International Falls just before 5pm on a Friday and we could have had severed heads and cocaine piled up in the back seat and not been stopped (pre 9/11.)

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135

I know that everyone who doesn’t have their unit feels like you do - it’s tremendously frustrating to not have the product you paid for, and I wish we had a way to get it to you sooner. Like all of our dates, domestic and international, it’s a forecast and will change constantly as we get information. Recently we’ve been moving dates in as often as out, but all we can guarantee is that your date will always be as accurate as we can make it, and we’ll reflect any new information back to you as quickly as we can.

136

Has anybody had their date change to a day in the past?

Woke this morning (UK) and my date shifted from the 20th of March to the 9th…

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137

Me too, I woke up this morning and my date has shifted from March 22 to yesturday… (Spain)

138

Seems it’s happened to a few of us in the night: Estimated Shipping Notification Date has become crazy!

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139

They seem to send out the emails late in the working day on the west coast, so that is late at night in the UK. So perhaps it means you will get the email this evening.

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140

Fingers crossed… Can’t comprehend how many times I’ve refreshed that page over the last couple of weeks… was a nice surprise this morning.

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141

Maybe you’ve already got your Glowforge and misplaced it.

Did you check under the couch cushions?

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142

Haha! If only… I will check just in case. Big cushions on this couch

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143

Same. My date was 26th March and now 9th March like yours. I’ve emailed to ask if this is correct.