Hello, I think one of the biggest limitations of the Glowforge is the “cloud” software. It is extremely buggy and not to mention it involves the dreaded “cloud”. I’ve spent hours trying to play around with the software, to then have the browser crash on me multiple times on multiple computers and multiple browsers, and because you can not save, it becomes extremely frustrating.
The “cloud” needs to go away as a buzz word and selling point. The “cloud” means someone else’s computer / the internet. Considering the U.S. one of the worse internet speeds / reliability compared to the rest of the world, it means that if you have no internet, guess what? You have no Glowforge or any other tool you rely on the “cloud” for.
I’ve worked in I.T. for over 10 years and I hate the “cloud” with a passion. And internet connection should not be the determining factor if you can, or can not use a product. I know in the end, the industry would like to to never own anything physically again (music, movies, games, etc.) so they can take it away at a moments notice, charge us more money to give it back, or sell subscriptions, but for a device like this, I’d like it to be completely independent of my unreliable internet connection.
For having over $28 million dollars, a standalone piece of software could have been developed by now. I’m not an expert in these programs and the web is extremely basic and limiting. All other “free” / paid programs out there recommended to use with this, is not made for this device, so there is a learning curve. In the end, I just end up Googling SVG files, so I don’t have to deal with the limitations of other formats.
Any plans to get a piece of software out soon, that just treats the Glowforge as a printer to your computer and all you have to worry about is your own internal network connection? Not DoS attacks on ISPs or cloud services, or a storm knocks out my internet, or today it decides it wants to be slow?
Sorry for the rant, but I never liked the “cloud” since day 1 of the Microsoft campaign. I saw what they wanted to do and hated the idea. There is a shirt out there “There is no cloud, just someone else’s computer.” and it is so true. But not only that, No internet, no cloud, and no internet happens more often than anyone wants to admit / believe. And when that happens, guess what? All your devices are bricks.
Sorry again, please come out with a standalone software soon! Thanks!