But according to most of the people on this forum, the good folk at glowforge wouldn’t dare go out of order for shipments… anymore…
A lot of people view this negatively but honestly I found it humorous. Its just poking fun at the delays. Sort of a “rather be laughing than crying” sort of thing.
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I feel this way when I wake up sometimes. I can’t wait to get my 'forge", and I feel I’ve been quite patient. I’ve never put this much money into something without anything to show for it in my life. (except for my marriage)
One of the first things I did today was look for an announcement. Because for some reason they have decided to only do them once a month, and then be inconsistent about when they go out.
Sure there are real people who work at Glowforge. Maybe someone there took the post personally. There are a lot of good people who have put themselves out financially, they just want to be updated, and ultimately receive the unit they ordered.
The post made me chuckle this morning, and I needed one.
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Rapid prototype forms for cast cement sculptures and cut plates for printmaking.
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I’m glad a few people got a chuckle.
@sameolegrind nailed it. “rather be laughing than crying” This has been a torturous wait, but I’m still here. Still waiting.
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I think the barbs posted here pail in comparison to some other platforms. Nothing the company hasn’t seen ad nauseam across two years, but I believe in my heart that being vindictive with the shipping order is far beneath this company.
I have to hand it to Dan, he’s a lot stronger than I. After everyone in the company doing their level best was rewarded with harsh criticism thrown in their face, my patience would evaporate and Mr. Hyde’s response would be a check in the mail. End of line.
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best joke of the day award
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It’s fine to get ticked off at customers complaining all the time, but it’s not fine to retaliate by delaying their orders. I’ve developed software and had to deal with angry customers, and I’ve worked in tech support answering phone calls from the worst human beings on the planet (you can tell when they start the conversation with “YOU PEOPLE…”). I’ve had to take breaks to calm down, I’ve commiserated with coworkers, but on no occasion did I ever think “Mr. Carlson says his e-mail is slow? I’ll show him what slow really means!” I would expect, and deserve, to be fired on the spot for such a thing.
I don’t read every thread on the forum, but from what I can recall of the complaints I’ve seen so far, even the loud ones, have not been about the people, they’ve been about behavior. It’s “please tell us what’s going on”, not “you are a lying sack of crap”. We should also be careful that the responses to those complaints from other forum members avoid becoming personal attacks on the complainer’s character.
I know what it’s like to constantly read negative comments about the company you work for. My employer has been in the news lately, it sucks to deal with that burden when you’re just trying to get a job done, and I wish those people would be nice, or be reasonable, or at least shut up. I’m certainly guilty of falling into the trap of saying things with my keyboard that I wouldn’t say in person, and I’ll do my best to consider more that these messages are being read by real live people. Except for those of you who are replicants, you know who you are.
Personally I have very little to complain about at this point. I don’t even particularly care if it’s delayed. It’s just the inexplicable lack of transparency that gets to me. I find the excuses (competitive secrecy, nothing to say yet, etc.) extremely weak. If there’s bad news, I want to hear it sooner rather than later. I want a direct answer to the question of whether they’re being shipped in order of order date, and if not, what is the order. We live in a world where I can track pizza being delivered to my house on a real-time map. I’m an agile project management coach, so I tend to believe in knowing where things are at all times, accepting that schedules change, and being fully transparent about it.
Here is an example of what a transparent shipping update looks like:
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I backed the GPD Pocket and they had a “June 2017” target delivery date. I of course figured it’d be late and even if it was June, that meant June 30. Turned out I got mine in the beginning of June (which some thought meant it was late - since it wasn’t delivered on June 1). I thought they were early 
But I (and everyone else) got weekly and then twice weekly updates from the creator with which backer numbers were shipping in that batch. The device was a Windows or Ubuntu device and they ended up shipping all the Windows ones first (peeving off the Ubuntu folks - kind of like International buyers) so I really didn’t care after I got mine but it was an example of letting folks know what’s going on. The Ubuntu machines ended up delayed a bit but everyone knew and knew where they were so they weren’t in the dark.
But they didn’t raise $30M and didn’t have anyone like Muse breathing down their backs ready to pounce on anything or having to deal with “you shipped 22 yesterday but only 20 today so what’s up?” whining - so I don’t know that I necessarily disagree with GF’s method but I do know why people like the extra info.
I don’t think Muse is a player at this point. I can’t imagine they would be afraid of giving Muse any leverage at this point, or any competitor for that matter. I think the only leverage they give to competitors at this point is that it looks like Glowforge is that they aren’t shipping in any significant numbers.
The competition may already have one for all we know, and it’s not like the feature list isn’t published. Sure, there are features they haven’t alluded too yet, that’s not really what people are asking for.
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I understand what youre saying but it seems people consistently bemoan people speculating at every turn. This is really Glowforge’s doing. The customer base has complained for nearly the entire duration of the process about the lack of communication. Honestly, that’s really never been remedied. The inconsistent monthly updates appear to even be in response to the anger over non-communication and weak excuses for poor communication. So people speculate to try and create some semblance of order. Now some seem to get annoyed at all the speculation. Or suggest that the company workers may become demoralized by criticism and rampant speculation. If the company refuses to enlighten the customer base with transparent information, the only logical conclusion is speculation. Keeping them in the dark isn’t going to quell their concern. This sort of thing is really brought about because of glowforges policies.
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One issue that seems to be continually avoided is the status on these products being evaluated by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL).
They finally appear to have the FCC markings (though, the FCC ID they are displaying is just that of the Texas Instruments WiFi module Z64-WL18SBMOD, and the owners manual still does not have the required FCC language).
However, there do not seem to be any NRTL markings. This is important for US customers because, under OSHA (and likely your state counterpart’s) regulations, electric appliances that have not been tested and/or listed by an NRTL are forbidden in most workplaces. Some local fire marshals will frown upon it as well.
It’s also an issue for export, as most countries have requirements for certification before they will allow the item past customs.
GF has effectively been mute on this topic, even though it is of vital importance - especially as these are likely being shipped to schools and workplaces right now without the required NRTL markings.
An indicator that may signal a long way to go for certification is that most NRTL’s require a completed owner’s/operator’s manual, as that is often evaluated as part of the process (at least, in my experience), and that is still under active development.
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Oh that is definitely the case. They have no one to blame but themselves for the resultant fallout. But it’s also crystal clear that their communication style and substance absolutely will not change.
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I have never in my life before bought something where the seller flatly refused to tell me when they can deliver. I have obviously had things be late and been strung along but never “we are not going to tell you”.
If it wasn’t for the spreadsheet we would be completely in the dark.
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An August update would be useful. The delay in getting an update leads me to think it will only be bad… Why delay good news?
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If it wasn’t for the spreadsheet, there might have been a mob of people in open revolt.
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spreadsheet?
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I make it 83 days since “shipping” was announced and the spread sheet says 83 days to Oct 31, so we are half way through the time for all the 30 day campaign orders but only about half way through the first day orders.
Does anybody think there won’t be another delay?
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hard to say, i mean, i’m still holding out hope that the august update was just waiting until pros started being delivered to go.