I am very confident that the Glowforge laser printer will be an amazing piece of equipment that I will enjoy using. That’s where I stand.
We are customers, nothing more. We saw cool videos and cool pictures and decided we want to buy this product.
This is my take on a few of the comments I’ve seen in the forum this morning.
“it’s a scam” - Its clearly not a scam. They display the printer at numerous maker fairs. There are a few out in the hands of beta testers. We just watch a pre-release version on Tested. THIS IS NOT A SCAM. That being said, if you think it’s a scam get your money back. You are free from the weight of this “scam” being on your shoulders.
“you owe us…” - Glowforge doesn’t owe us anything but a printer. We signed on for a product that didn’t exist and when was the last time you took an idea as complicated as a laser printer from idea to full production in a year. It’s not easy.
“independent audit” - See above comment where I said “Glowforge doesn’t owe us anything but a printer”
“this is costing my business money” - If you based a whole business plan on the Glowforge laser printer you are crazy. We have no idea how fast this will print or how long it will work. Why would you stake your whole business on an unproven device?
“You have my money; I can’t afford to have my money tied up” – Please get a refund ASAP. I’m not a wealthy man and I paid for this with a credit card like most people. I’ve since paid this off. That money is gone. If you need this money to pay a bill or keep food on your table what are you doing here. Get your money back.
I would encourage anyone who is not 100% behind this new revolutionary product to please get your money back and stop filling the forum and internet in general with your negativity. I don’t like butterfingers, but I’m not all over their forum telling them they suck and lied because they said their candy bar tasted great and it doesn’t. The only thing true about all of the complaints is that @Dan said they were targeting for a December ship date and then that there would be an update Friday December 2nd.
I like everyone else would love to have a Glowforge sitting in my maker space. But I understand that good things can be accomplished overnight, great things take a bit longer. My only concern is what I perceive as “Scope Creep”. I bought a laser printer. I don’t care if it can be an inkjet printer, 3D printer or anything else in the future. My preference would be that the Glowforge team focus fully on making the best desktop laser printer possible. I’ll buy an inkjet printer if I want one or a 3D printer.
Keep up the great work @Dan and the Glowforge team. I look forward to more updates because it just gets me more excited about what I’ll be able to do with this laser. Merry Christmas!
Seriously. I don’t like the mostly cheerleader feel of this forum a lot of the time, but goodness this is a lot of pretty melodramatic blowback. Next we’ll have people in here going on about how glowforge killed all their chickens.
I’ve taken my deep breath and I’ve calmed down, but I’m not crazy and I resent the label. I’m innovative and excited to bring an entirely new kind of product to my customers. I can’t create that product without the Glowforge. Shoot, it was the original Glowforge video that gave me the product idea in the first place.
Business owners and entrepreneurs make decisions on equipment all. the. time. Think about that shade-tree mechanic who’s opening up a garage but can’t do it until his car lift is installed. How is that crazy?
I can understand that a maker or hobbyist won’t have the same crucial concerns that a business owner will have. That’s probably because hobbyists haven’t budgeted for and coordinated a website designer, videographer, product photographer, logo and branding design, etc., all looking for a December delivery so that I could have a springtime launch of my own. I’ve even taken the Glowforge and delivery schedule into account when planning the timing of major life events. (Who wants to move house 500 miles during a product launch? Not me.)
I’ve been quietly holding on to my idea for 17 months now, biding my time, and that’s not crazy. That’s creative and committed. The Glowforge is simply a tool to help me bring my idea to life. I’m still in love with my product idea, but I’ll be honest… it’s my idea that I love and if I can find another tool make it reality before July, I’m going to be sorely tempted to jump on it and stop wasting time. But the waiting and business planning don’t make me or anyone else crazy.
The larger point is generally just that if you’re honestly missing out on profits you should probably buy something to help tide you over instead of pinning hopes on an unproven company with an unsteady schedule.
I’m a controls engineer and a project manager by trade, so I know all about buying equipment. I would never even consider buying a piece of equipment for the business I work for before someone in person proved to me that it could do what I needed it to do. Now as a hobbyist/maker the money I’ve paid to Glowforge was well worth it for the tool I will get when its ready to be shipped.
I completely understand your frustrations and obviously have no idea what your idea is. But this is just a laser cutter. You’ve spent this much. Surely you can spend the remaining money it would take to get yourself a laser that would make your business run right now? Maybe not. Good luck with your idea either way. I hope you can hang on to your Glowforge and make your dream a reality.
I don’t know if the idea I have for the Glowforge will ever make me a dime, but I sure wish I didn’t have to put off finding out for a year beyond the original ship date. I’m weird that way, I guess.
I’m not cancelling yet, but reserve the right to be upset. Quietly. Over here, out of the way.
To concur with @dystracktd, I HATE feature creep. Does @dan really think he can make a 3D printer as well as Josef Prusa?
STOP! Make the best laser you can for the money. Nothing more, please.
I don’t WANT more features, I want rock solid hardware and amazing software for a laser cutter/engraver. I will wait for that, and have chosen to wait… for year plus at this point. But please, please, please… don’t do anything more than that, those features alone are challenging enough.
I don’t think calling people crazy for their dreams is helpful. Any more than calling supporters, cheerleaders. You have a right to be upset, and I hope you can hold onto your dreams, just as I have a right to believe I will be satisfied in the long run.
@redpentravelers, your talk about your ideas has me very intrigued and I would love to see your idea when it’s ready!
No one called anyone crazy for their dreams. Its great to have dreams. But having the fate of your dreams hinge on a product, which at the time of his purchase, no one had ever seen or used is a bit of unrealistic thinking. Like I said in my response to @dcarolan, I sincerely hope they are able to make their dream a reality. Just don’t say your business’ future is in the hands of Glowforge.
@redpentravelers, I think you and @dystracktd are talking about two different things. I, like you, had a business idea that prompted me to invest in a Glowforge. I, like you, have been spending the intervening months planning and getting ready to put my idea to the test. However, I think what @dystracktd was saying (or how I took it) is that you don’t buy an unproven, as-of-yet-unproduced machine for something you need to do right now. I’ve been shocked at how many posts I’ve seen that say, “I took several jobs counting on the Glowforge…” The thought makes me shiver. You don’t promise anything until you can actually do it.
I’m frustrated at the delay, sure. I think communication could have been clearer and more transparent - but that’s has become very rare in the U.S. business world, and that’s is, in the end, only my arm-chair quarterback opinion. I’m sticking with glowforge because if it is delivered as promised then it’s the only machine at the moment that will do what I need to do at a price point that I could handle. If the cost is waiting, then for now I wait, and will keep supporting @dan and the glowforge team in the hopes they are able to deliver what they promised, even if it didn’t happen when they said.
Thank you @dystracktd! I’m of course disappointed about the delay. I bought the GF Pro with a few commercial projects in mind. I plunked down the money which I thought I would put into a nice 3D printer but I saw the potential of the GF and I figured it would be way cheaper to buy it during the crowd funding phase. As any other crowd funding project I figured it might be a little bit of a gamble and a bit of a wait, specially after figuring out that about 10k of them were purchased during the crowd funding.
I’d rather have a reliable cutter than a very expensive paperweight, so I’m fine with waiting, sad, but I can see the better product at the end of the wait.
@dan made it very clear that the removable print head is NOT a new feature. It was in from the beginning. It is something that he just now revealed as a feature. It is not feature creep.
Oi – this delay is such a First World sort of problem. Its a business, creating something amazing – delays happen, and should never be unexpected with new Tech, and everyone that wants out and their money back can go ahead and get it right away. Disappointment is OK, vilification, not so much.
As for the magnetically attaching print head – the Z18 Makerbot (and other Fifth Generation printers) has the same sort of thing with the extruder and it works great!
@kennethclapp I agree with everything you said and I appreciate the encouragement. I would never ever take on work pending delivery of a tool; I agree that’s incredibly poor practice. And yeah, my current business can sustain me and I don’t require the Glowforge right now to stay afloat. But all the prep work for expanding into a separate but related product line-- website, branding, etc.-- that stuff takes a while and it’s the part that I’ve had to put on hold. Again.
