I doubt anybody that would do it needs our help in coming up with the idea…
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If GF wanted to police the catalog, they could do so fairly easily – All the non-catalog prints go through their servers too.
It certainly lessens anything that Glowforge would give us concerning the Design Catalog concerning how late they have been, now we are finding out that “proofgrade” materials are 5 times more expensive that items that are for sale elsewhere, but those prices are in “beta” and could change, what are the chances they will go down? Are those promised free designs from the video, you know when you promised them after you delayed again, are those one offs? It’s starting to feel like the stuff GF promised when they delay is not going to add up to much.
I don’t think 5x is where proof grade is for the pricepoint. I don’t even think it’s at 2x, but we don’t know because like you said everything is in beta currently. As with so many things there’s a spread and you pay for quality and you pay for cuts. You can find stuff dirt cheap full of knots and pine sap dripping out the sides, and you’ll save a fortune. If the hassle of that knotty sappy wood is worth the money you saved that’s awesome. Some people though will want as much of a “drop board in hit glowing button pull out something beautiful don’t bother me with the magic” experience as they can get so proofgrade will be a worth while investment. I think a majority of us will fall somewhere between the two extremes. Everything I’ve seen so far on proofgrade has been stunning and a little premium for the highest quality ply is going to be worth it in my opinion. This won’t stop me from going scrap heap diving at the local plastics place
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I thought the same thing. Would take a bit of cleanup to do it though as it would be a copy of a copy kind of thing. So I don’t know that it would be worth that effort. Although I suppose it would make a good starting point for people to rip off designs. I dunno… Is it a big deal if that even happens? I honestly have no way to answer that question.
Your right it’s only 30 to 40% more, still though in “beta”
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Well. Let’s say you do something cool. Takes you 2 months to polish out and get all the things wo they print just right. You put it in the catalogue for $20. Nefarious Ned loves it so much that he swipes your design. Changes a couple things. Puts it to the catalogue claiming it’s his work for $15. He spent 3 hours ripping you off. People see they are similar and buy his instead cause it’s cheaper. Assuming someone is curating the catalogue and can see that the two things are similar then maybe they could stop it. But then maybe nefarious Ned just rips your design and heads to etsy to hawk your wares. It’s all very hypothetical but people take a lot of pride in what they came up with
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If it’s competitive with inventables then I think that’s about what they promised and I’d say stick to sourcing from as many different places as your wallet will allow
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Sorry. I misspoke. I didn’t mean to imply that people who work hard shouldn’t get what they deserve. My actual thinking was… How often will it happen, if at all? Will it “really” be a problem.
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Ah, fair point then. Who knows only time will tell.
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misses the point of what I was saying, in that it’s not that I doubt the GF proofgrade material is nice stuff, but the value of what they promised us when they delayed seems to be disappearing
Like the $150 materials pack? If it’s 30-40% less than you expected I guess the best I’ve got to say is it still cost you nothing but patience. We would have to have Dan weigh in on how many times we can use the free designs but I guess optimism says that giving them to us means unlimited prints. Worst case there’s one you like and you use some of the $50 design catalogue coupon you’re getting. At the end of the day though… personally it’s all a gift for our patience and I’m greatful that they cared enough to do anything what does it matter if you get a couple less boards and only one print of the doll house? Anything else is looking the gift horse in the mouth
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Dude, did I offend you somehow? Yah, sorry that the “freebies” they offered to us are looking less impressive than they did when they offered them to us, and that is my opinion. You just seem to want to argue, and it seems like it is with everyone.
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No not at all, just adding my perspective in. Wasn’t trying to start an argument, my apologies
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Yes - you’ll get free, unlimited access to those prints.
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I should also add that the perspectives here are very useful, and the catalog team is reading this thread with interest. For those reading this thread but not posting, feel free to chime in with further ideas, concerns, or suggestions!
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There should be an easy way to flag designs that are stolen from the original designers.
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Good…
especially things like the luggage tags: need a full matched set!
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I’ve mentioned this before but I think they’re has to be a certification process for each of the designs and for each designer themselves. I also think there should be cost to the get certified as a Glowforge designer and for each design. I then think that Glowforge should use this money to test each design and weed out copies as the designer will have to sign that it’s an original design. One strike rule for designers and non original designs. Nefarious Ned won’t last long with these rules and would think twice about it in the first place.
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I really hate to shoot down an idea so completely but… The goal is for people with talent to design, and possibly sell their designs. I can’t imagine much interest in this “certification” method. I also can’t see Glowforge having the resources to check out every single design to see if something similar already exists. Like most works of art (music, video, written word) it needs to be up to the artist to police other works and identify signs of infringement.
I definitely agree w/ @jeremiah that there needs to be an easy flagging system for such events. Like everything else out there, Glowforge needs to act in a reasonable time (yes, that’s a non-specific term TBD) to perform a takedown. Also, I don’t think anybody but the original artist should be able to flag. Others should simply notify the person they think is the original. I mean, somebody else won’t know if the 2nd artist has gotten some sort of permission from the 1st. Or, really who was first in the first place necessarily. The “owner” of the design should be the only one requesting takedowns.
Just my humble opinion.
- Tom
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