Discussion of the August 2017 update

Ok, thanks!

I guess getting some of the past ones made me think that was normal operations.

Apologies, I thought I answered this - yes. You can always see the current schedule at Glowforge - the 3D laser printer. Our goal is for everyone to have them in their hands at the end of October (or November, or December, depending on order).

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It depends.

We deliver major updates via email. Monthly updates are posted in the forum, but if you followed these instructions you will also receive them by email.

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Iā€™m not, nor have I ever felt angry about this. I understand development cycles and delays, and I think most people who are interested in buying a product of this sort have some experience working for or with a tech company. This isnā€™t foreign territory and I never expected them to meet their original schedule. In the kickstarter world, I would guess that less than 5% of tangible products deliver on time. Iā€™m not asking for anything beyond some basic information that should be very easy to calculate. What percentage of the preorders have shipped? If you arenā€™t sharing the metrics of your progress, then Iā€™m left to assume that you are behind schedule. Iā€™m not asking to be a downer or because Iā€™m unhappy. Iā€™m still super excited for it to come in Oct, or next year, etc. I appreciate the communications they do send out about all of the changes and improvements. I would much rather have a better machine later. I can wait. I just value setting open and honest expectations.

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My apologies. I was asking for clarification on what you had said earlier.

I was asking if by ā€œDeliveryā€ you meant:

  1. Everyone who preordered would have a shipping notification, in this case the latest any preorders would be in the hands of the owners would be Dec 12. As near as I can tell thatā€™s 6 weeks after the 31st.

  2. Everyone who preordered, would have Shipping information with UPS tracking by October 31st., with their packages being gently loved by the carriers.

  3. Everyone who preordered, would be enjoying their Lasers in the comfort of their own homes on Oct 31.

The current schedule says. "your Glowforge may arrive any time between now and October 31st. This would indicate that option #3 is what you meant.

We all understand international orders may have other results and schedules. I was not asking for clarification in international shipping.

So which of the three fits the definition of delivery?

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The curious thing is that I am part of a number of crowd funding matters. If I compare Glowforge to any of the rest, @dan has been at least as communicative as any of the rest, and more than most. Most of them I am just taking on faith that they will eventually be completed (including 3 where my shipping information has already been collected), and most communicate much less than Glowforge.

I think most of the major releases have to be reviewed by @staff and lawyers. This update still leaves me optimistic of likely receiving mine on the currently published timeline. It also leaves me confident that if my Glowforge is delayed from that, I will receive even more in compensation AND a unit that is that much better for the delay. It would really be nice to receive mine in time to make stuff for Christmas, but I will be happy even if I donā€™t get my forge AND filter until January or February.

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Thatā€™s a totally fair point. They are much better at communicating than most of the kickstarter campaigns Iā€™ve been a part of. I donā€™t fault them for delays at all, because Iā€™m sure that more often than not, the delays are in my best interest and beyond their control. Whatever, it is what it is. I suppose they share whatever information they see fit to and thatā€™s their business.

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One question: Any idea when the Design Catalog will be a thing?

Hope this gets answered

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@mad_macs, @sameolegrind, sounds like #3 to me.

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I think I said this in the last post, but: our goal is for everyone to have them in their hands at the end of October (or November, or December, depending on order date & air filter).

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Thanks! Thatā€™s awesome!

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True, true. Iā€™m so anxious, but if I tell myself that it will be in one of the last batches, it manages my expectations. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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So Grand Pooh Bah of all things Glowforgey. :slight_smile:

so a Late October PRO order plays out to November?

we might be moving to a new house, and I would just die if that sucker shows up when Iā€™m trying to get our current house touched up to put on the market. 'cause I doubt a house full of laser cut trinkets is going to do the trick for a quick sale. :wink:

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I dunno. Stage it with some of the boxes @Jules has made, maybe that acrylic/wood piece that someone else made (Dang if I can remember his name). Sign like @PrintToLaser made.
Market it right and you should be good to go. :smiley:

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And be sure to prominently display your referral code!

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YES! How could I have forgotten that.

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I am thinking curt and cynd11 need more to do. :slight_smile:
great replies though Made me chuckle.

looking up referral code just to be safe. :slight_smile:

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I really donā€™t feel you need to worry about it shipping in Octoberā€¦ or Decemberā€¦ perhaps June? At this point Iā€™m fairly well convinced that the program is to get as many people as possible to cancel their orders. After all, they can then sell those boxes to some new customerā€¦ perhaps one of the lucky non owners who are getting a look at the GUI so they can access a friends laser. The new customer will of course be paying double what we pre order folks paid, so thumbs up for employee bonuses eh?

All I know is two years in, and no delivery, no statement of where delivery is is in the schedule and a big fat ā€œget lostā€ when you ask customer service.

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Funnyā€¦ I made that exact point right after the previous delay. There is definitely a monetary reward to cancelled preorders that likely outweighs any bad PR that can be written off as ā€œwell, it was a crowd funded endeavorā€. It actually made me consider the idea that kickstarter projects should have upper caps on pre sales and funding in the same way that they have to meet a certain commitment before they are funded. This project wouldnā€™t be in year two of development if theyā€™d only had 2000 pre orders. On the flip side of that, any one of those first 2000 glowforges would have been much lower quality and essentially a beta test to see what the market interest really was. As it turns out, they pre sold over 12,000 units and that forced them to actually develop and deliver a fully mature product. Itā€™s not their fault that there was such huge interest. Iā€™m sure it was exciting and a huge party for everyone involved until they had to figure out how to actually deliver 12000+ market ready units on a 6 month schedule (or whatever it was way back when). Iā€™m sure plenty of aspiring startups will look at the GlowForge story as a case study for crowdfunding pros and cons.

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