So there I was, innocently going about my day doing the stuff I always do at work – namely, trying to avoid said work. I always feel guilty about this, so since I work in IT I try to relieve my guilt by wasting my time on tech sites like Ars Technica. It was there that I stumbled across an article (this one) about this laser cutter thingy that sounded like vaporware but wasn’t. I’ve always wanted a laser cutter, but last I checked they were upwards of $10k which no-way, no-how was going to happen since this would just be a hobby toy to me. This article, though, said I could preorder this unicorn for only $2k and it honest-to-god actually worked. I watched the video on the Glowforge website with the chant “WANT! WANT! WANT!” going through my mind. Discussed with the wife, pulled out the credit card, and boom! – I owned a frickin’ laser (well, preordered a frickin’ laser, at least). Article to video to drool to conversation with wifey took 1 day tops. Done.
As time passed and my Glowforge failed to appear on my doorstep, my confidence that this was a good decision was tested. More than once I came close to cancelling. I mean, $2k may not be much for a laser cutter, but it’s still a lot of money, right? Somehow I held on and lo, my faith was rewarded. The Glowforge may not be perfect (yet), but that creative bug that bites me from time to time now has a wonderful way to express itself. It’s hard to explain how cool it feels to have an idea, whip up a design, and actually hold something in my hand that I only envisioned an hour or so ago. It’s a lot like creating and printing something on your 3D printer except (a) it isn’t made of plastic and (b) it didn’t print for 8 hours and then decide to turn into spaghetti. (Bitter? Nah, not me.)
While I still dream about the day I can quit my corporate job to make a living creating things, right now I’m happy enough to consider this an investment in my personal well-being. Sounds overly dramatic, I know, but I’ve needed a creative outlet like this for years. The Glowforge made it happen.
Edited to add: I completely forgot to mention one of the biggest reasons I held out to the end – the community that has grown around this incredible machine. It wasn’t just the beta users or the pre-release users posting their creations, either. The amount of creative talent that lives here is unbelievable. Had this just been your average, ordinary forum I probably would have cancelled long ago. This forum has become part of my daily routine, has been an invaluable resource to me, and is quite literally a major reason why I’m now a Glowforge owner.