Interesting…So the video was a complete sham, based on follow up comments about using the industrial laser they have inhouse.
The completed patterns shown in the “sell it” video were done not by the Glowforge as originally implied but by the competitors laser and passed off as “what a Glowforge can do” I didn’t really think about it until this link you put up pointing to Dan’s blog. Wow in a way it just feels slimy, it also explains this situation. They had an idea and decided to put together a flashy video without really telling anyone they were just starting development.
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I worked at ups for many holidays… nothing gets better during peak season
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Hi there! As a product manager at Amazon who has written these press releases, I can comment on how the process works for Amazon. Before we begin begin writing code, designing new hardware, or staffing up a large team, we go through the “working backwards” process. This process ensures that we first attempt to define what our customers need so that we can describe the end vision in detail with a draft press release and Frequently Asked Questions (PR/FAQ). The PR/FAQ goes through many reviews and revisions before we allocate a team and resources and begin working on the initiative. This document also includes supporting quotes that are usually made up by Amazonians but which represent the voice of the intended customer. The Press Release is not published publicly.
It is only after we have completed the initial release of the product and feel that it is ready for our customers that we issue a public press release describing the product or service and how it benefits our customers - often with supporting quotes from beta customers.
We live by the mantra of “release early and release often” but this is not an excuse to release something which does not delight our customers on day one.
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All day errday!
I have that dang pig music memorized from childhood. Thanks for the happy break. Now back to skipping all the comments that don’t come from @dan. Yay!
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Can you please pm me?
Can someone please enlighten me on the process about the certificate for international shipments?
Does it normally take this long over 2 years to sort out?
I’m honestly trying to keep my senses in staying but if next weeks announcement is not a good one. I might have to pull out after such a long wait and with the lack of international customer services… its ridiculous… Had high hopes on producing stuff with a GF 
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It’s a tough break on the reward points. On one hand it’s not fair that you’re losing them, on the other if the points were retained even after canceled orders people would have gamed the system.
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Please clarify: it sounds like your update suggests there will be additional delays. If there are more delays in the pipeline I think you owe it to your customers to keep us informed and to help manage our expectations. Updating us this week by asking us to wait till next week’s update is a bit irritating.
Based on what you know now are you suggesting that the upcoming delays are plural: days, weeks or months away?
Please note I’m not asking about the nature of the delay, I just want to know how much longer the delay will be.
The “system” is whatever glowforge says it is.
Can we get half the value in store credit for each referral that cancelled after the third broken promise? No? Nada. Okay. Well… its not my system, so, have to either convince MORE people to get on the train or deal with it.
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I suppose the alternative would have been to wait until next week to post anything. I’m not sure that would have been much better.
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You raise a good point, which I don’t disagree with. With that said, I think it’s fair to ask for a rough estimate for the upcoming delay.
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They’re sending everyone a personalized email with the delay for each person:
I think it’s fair to give them a week to do that. It could be a lot of work figuring out an estimate for each person. And I know I’d rather have an individual estimate for my own order rather than some vague range that covers everyone from now until they ship the last order that came in yesterday.
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Bwa-ha hahaha…please don’t dash my little remaining hope!!!
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Just to play devils advocate: the income from Amazon’s thriving fulfillment business can be leveraged to keep the lights on and R&D employees paid while you prefect a future product and associated press releases. Amazon doesn’t have to crowd source a venture. Therefore you can afford to keep customers in the dark.
Whereas GlowForge has only a single product that hasn’t fully shipped, and therefore must be operating with negative cash flow. Their investors’ preorders are keeping the lights on and their employees paid. I think it’s fair to expect more frequent and timely updates, along with realistic deadlines.
I work with software vendors as well. I agree there’s always a roadmap, but often you need to sign a NDA to hear the roadmap as the vendor doesn’t want to share their plans with the competition. Seems similar to this situation to me…
edz
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I’m not asking for a per person estimate. I’m asking for a clarification on what sounds like yet-another-delay for the stated goal of shipping all the preorders in October.
The rough estimate should cover just the orders that came in during their Kickstarter campaign 100 weeks and three 6-month delays ago.
Providing a vague range will help manage our expectations. And next week they can contact the remaining customers and provide a personalized deadline. If there are delays.
If the originally stated goal is still intact then I’m fine waiting till next week for my personalized ETA.
Has Dan confirmed this? I’ve seen a few people allude to this interpretation but that’s not how I read it at all. All it seems to say is that every remaining person will get an email? As in, anyone that doesn’t get their golden ticket from now til then will get an email with a revised schedule. Seems to me that everyone would get a new general deadline date like before. Not that each person will get an individual estimated date.
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I’d sign a GlowForge NDA if it meant having more a accurate ETA.
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It’s right in the announcement:
The email update you receive next week will tell you when to expect delivery based on your order date, US or International, and product (Basic/Pro/Air).
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