Discussion of the August 2017 update

We all know that developing a complex new product from scratch takes an unknowable long time. And we all know crowdfunded projects always overshoot. The issue is that this isn’t a crowdfunded project and it was marketed as a pre-order of a completed design that was ready for mass production in three months. Ever since then the company has been trying to hide how far from the truth that was and how far behind they are.

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All if the same development issues apply. If you didn’t consider it a crowdfunding campaign, then it’s even more unreasonable to expect a level of transparency for which some are asking.

If they were going to mass produce it in three months then all development must have been completed but actually they only had an early prototype. When you promise delivery in three months and then take two years it is completely reasonable that customers should be kept informed.

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Eheh. Not too proud to do a “what did I say” here. :roll_eyes:

Has any mention been made of an updated schedule for the filters? (Not seeing anything when using the search function)

dan says that the current schedule is still in place, so “december.”

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I KNOW the “sheet” is NOT including every single order at GF but this still has me in a WTF mood :frowning:

I hadn’t seen those four rate calculations before because I hadn’t scrolled that far. The first three are bogus because they just take the total number of emails and divide by different numbers of days. So there has definitely not been 8.4 per day over the last 7 days.

That last one is bogus because “shipping” started on 19th of May, not 30th June. The correct number for average emails per day is in Q3, which is 0.648 but that is only in a sample of 361 from about 10000.

Hi all. I don’t post much, but I have something to add to the discussion:

I firmly believe that the smart thing to do is to cancel and see how the company does. After all, if we take delivery, and the company ultimately fails, these cloud machines won’t be very useful. Anyone who cancels for that reason should feel good about their decision. Machines with more features and lower prices will come soon enough. Let the market shake itself out.

That said, I’ve come to know many of you by reading your posts. I identify. Cancel? You kidding? It’s just not us. We are early adopters and willing to take a huge risk on this company because on that day we all first saw that video, we saw something in it for ourselves. It sparked something. It got us giddy and gave us stuff to daydream about.

I’ve almost canceled twice, 'cause I like to think I’m smart. I could really use that money in my pocket. But the adventurous risk taking daydreamer wins every time.

That’s why I like this forum. I really like you guys. This is frustrating, AND we will remember these couple of years. This isn’t a See It And Throw It In Your Cart kinda deal. We will all remember the first video, the decision to join up and plop down the dough, the excitement and discussions. We thought it would come quickly enough. Then the MANY delays. The ups and downs of our expectations and rationalizations. The frustration. The arguments. This is a unique tool purchasing experience, no? Never had one quite like it.

Ok… that said, adventure has its limits. Come on guys!! We are routing for you! You really have used up all your Get Out If Jail Free cards. Don’t make us hand out more. Let’s keep those dates solid!

All my best to you, my fellow Adventurous Daydreaming Founders,

JonnyVermont

One more thing… a piece of advice I just gave myself for what it’s worth: please don’t plan on making Christmas presents with your Glowforge. I can’t bear to read posts like I did last year. It makes me sad.

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Everyone is definitely entitled to make your own choices. It’s a pity that you have come so far to give up now. But that being said, wishing you all the best and hope that extra money in your pocket can take you on another adventure :slight_smile:

The rest of us are still dreaming and waiting. In which, we hope will one day come. Especially for the international glowfolks.

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i think you’ve misread his essay because it doesn’t seem like he plans to cancel to me.

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I just received notice of another item I funded shipping. In they last year, they have communicated less than @dan has communicated in the last month, and given as many ‘updates’ in the last year as :glowforge: gave in the last 2 months.

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That’s right. I’m not leaving.

I feel like there was a sign from above today. The sun disappeared from the sky in mid day. That has to mean my Glowforge is shipping soon.

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I liked what you said and think odds are there are others like me who are disheartened by delays.

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I wish it as possible to see how many have shipped already, or what place they are in the queue of shipping just to get a idea

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I would be satisfied with a simple, “we have shipped approximately 800 of 10,000 units at this time.”

I don’t need specific details, but something in the general ballpark to give us some sort of idea of how the company is doing. We all want them to succeed. We all want them to grow and make even better things in the future.

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It’s probably a low number that’s why they won’t say, oh well still looking forward to machine

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I think his point is that if you’re a pragmatist, you should bail. The risks of yet another delay, the fact that the product’s ongoing usefulness/utility is inextricably tied to a startup company, outweigh the benefits.

If you’re a dreamer (let’s face it, if you’re still in at the point you must be a dreamer to some extent) you’re going to continue to hang in there and hope for the best. If you’ve let GlowForge hang on to $2-4k of your cash for the last two years, obviously it’s money you can afford to lose. And your creative side is constantly saying “just think of all the cool things I can make with it” and “I’ll be the only guy in the neighborhood with a friggin’ LASER!!”

What it really comes down to, for me, is TRUST. Is GlowForge a company I think I can trust over the long term, since I am reliant on them not just to deliver the product, but to continue to provide the cloud services, support, software updates, etc. that make the product usable?

I bought home automation lights from a company a few years ago, and the design required cloud servers that communicated with the control hub in my house. The company decided a year later to end the product line and shut down the servers, which meant I could no longer control the lights; but at least in that case the lights continue to function as regular lights. Your GlowForge will be a VERY LARGE paperweight if the company goes under or is unable to adequately operate/maintain the cloud servers

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This is (in part) why Glowforge has stated that they will release open source firmware to address this concern. Just not at this time until they are happy with the source code they are using.

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