@dan has received a lot of flak over calling the 
a 3d laser printer but with the new engraving algorithms and what @mpipes has done with them so quickly maybe we were wrong? When someone cuts a fan with the I’ll definitely be calling it a 3d laser printer.
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no thanks, engraver works just fine for me personally. i wouldn’t call a CNC a printer, either, even though it’s theoretically capable of producing text and the like. i don’t care what other people call it but the printer terminology has already caused confusion trying to explain the product to friends who’ve seen 3d printers before.
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If I was in charge of names they would all start with cnc because they are. But I’m not.
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i mean i’m not sure that a cnc is really the right name for it either (not that my opinion remotely matters in this), i was just using it for comparison’s sake.
besides this is nothing compared the inanity of naming paint colors after food.
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You are right that neither of our options mater but technically cnc is correct for any additive or subtraction machine ran by a computer.
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Think of it this way… If you put a Glowforge next to an actual 3D printer, and somebody asks “What are those?” You’re not going to say “Oh! Those are 3D printers.” You’re going to say “Oh! That one’s a 3D printer, and that one’s a laser cutter.”
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It could be worse. (Or better?)
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yes i mostly mean it’s not a noteworthy feature of it in comparison to the variety of tools available. back in the day it made a lot of sense. now it’s more of “yes of course it’s computer-controlled.”
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I always think of “Printing” as a process that deposits material, rather than removing material.
Printing-
First Definition-
Middle English (denoting the impression made by a stamp or seal): from Old French preinte ‘pressed,’ feminine past participle of preindre, from Latin premere ‘to press.’
The third definition almost fits though.
mark (a surface, typically a textile or a garment) with a colored design or pattern.
"a delicate fabric printed with roses"
synonyms: imprint, impress, stamp, mark
"patterns were printed on the cloth"
transfer (a colored design or pattern) to a surface.
"patterns of birds, flowers, and trees were printed on the cotton"
make (a mark or indentation) on a surface or in a soft substance by pressing something onto it.
"he printed a mark on her soft skin"
mark or indent (the surface of a soft substance).
“we printed the butter with carved wooden butter molds”
-Google Dictionary
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yeah, i’m careful not to complain about printing in terms of it being subtractive vs additive for that reason, i just don’t think it’s a great fit. besides, laser sculptor sounds infinitely cooler.
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I think “bombarder” would be a cool name for it
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energy enthusiast, for the way it happily tosses photons at stuff?
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Pure marketing. Anything that would qualify the as a 3d printer would apply to huge numbers of other things that are clearly not 3D printers. Introducing The Pacific Ocean 3D Printer! It erodes flat surfaces into various Z depths! 
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the first sentence of this comment seems like a good idea… then:
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If I was asked what they were I would call the 3D printer a 3D printer but for the glowforge I would say “well that ones a Glowforge” kind of in a class by itself…
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My take on this “3D printer” always was paired with the original video of making the globe. It cut out slices and when you put it together it created a 3D object. The printer part was out of place though imo.
“Carving” with a laser is not new…I have one that was manufactured back in the mid 90s that can do that…
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I don’t care what it is called because it’s awesome!!! I did name mine Dexter lol
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What’s a Printer? It is nor head, nor feedrate,
Nor platen, nor typeface, nor any other part
Belonging to a machine. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a Glowforge 3D Laser Printer®
By any other name would cut as sweet;
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Notice you didn’t say smell as sweet though… 
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