Tough Decision

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Hey Folks!

I was just at a Microsoft store here in Canada where the HTC Vive was on demo. The HTC vive got a lot of running room thanks to the success of the Oculus Rift and its Kickstarter. What a wonderful way to up competition and bring forth a new medium that totally can change the environment we expose ourselves to.

However, I want to remind you, that although I so dearly want to live my life in the greatest of VR…that since 2012, the Oculus Rift Retail Consumer Version is still not available for me to go out tomorrow and buy. Neither is the HTC Vive.

So when Glowforge ended their campaign last year at the end of October(ish), and are hopefully getting the product to us by this December, I say Bravo! The Oculus raised a few million via kickstart, but was then backed, and bought out by Facebook…FACEBOOK…like when Mojang’s Minecraft was bought by Microsoft. You now have an uber large company with resources far beyond standard average kickstarters working day and night to provide you with a product they wished they could send to you at least three years ago. And yes…I know things change and the circumstances, and technology dictates a lot of how new innovations reach consumers but!!! Glowforge raised over $30 Mil. They didn’t sell out to any 3rd party company. The Founder, Dan, is still actively responding in the forum, and doing their best to help resolve the issue of time by providing the best product they can.

I have in my life, sent out many notes to people in situations where I know their reply or acknowledgment would be at the least, ‘less enthusiastic’, to be nice. When Glowforge sent out the email to advise of the delay, I can only imagine how tough it was for them. I just wanted to get in here and remind those who have run out of patience, that when you are creating a new product and offering it in a way that has never been accessible before, or has benefits of affordibility, ease of use, portability, etc, that have never been offered before, then you can either a.) wait for a product that I believe the founders and all employees are proud to protect and evolve, or b.) go your own way, live with the existing standards and maybe revisit 10 years down the road along with the rest of the impassionate.

If you wish to request a refund for your Glowforge, please do…But short of getting shit*y Dev. versions of a product and constantly updating until you have something worth while to work with, then good luck via the Chinese Laser route. May work for some, but Glowforge is targeted for everyone, since day one.

I know of lot of people aren’t in the boat of cancelling, but I want the community to know that these delays are not by any average exagerrated. Dan and team know what they’re doing. 100% absolutely.

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Why I am staying the course.
My needs would be satisfied by a more prosaic machine that vector cut and did rather ordinary engraving. I have now used three sizes of Epilog and two sizes of full spectrum. I am too risk averse to try a cheaper Chinese laser (I was an anesthesiologist, we are risk averse, on your behalf, you should appreciate that.) These machines have been around long enough to be known entities. They would in each case cost more, or much more. However they all come with a drawback which to me is the deciding issue. I hesitated for half a day, putting me around number 1000, best guess, until I realized that the GF has the cooling, air assist and venting all neatly included. The GF is going to live in “the spare bedroom”, alongside my ultimaker2+. I can easily reach a window for a weatheproof venting solution, so I cancelled the filter. The other machines have external devices to achieve each of these functions.These are large, noisy and expensive. I expect that the GF is going to be noisy, but there will be no such thing as 13 hour prints, as can happen with 3D printers. I rationalize that December is to make sure that there is little chance of more disappointment, and that if beta is underway, maybe October?

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Ether way, I’m in and that’s it for me. Now if only I could get someone to hire me, I could invest in material build ups for when it finally shows up.

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And I hope (perhaps mistakenly) that even if the glowforge is noisy, it’s not the kind of noise comes when firing up the compressor on a big filtered epilog. (And of course the all-in-one part means no one forgets to turn on the compressor, open the HEPA exhaust and the rest of the half-dozen checklist items.)

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I would start with cardboard. You can get it free from MANY places and still makes some AWESOME stuff out of it. Add a coat of spray paint and you are good to go! :smiley:

I’ve also been fallowing the Oculus and Vive (among others) and I feel the same exact way. Patience is a virtue especially for new and upcoming technology that breaks boundaries. I’m all in and glad to be.

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I’ve been one of the biggest supporters of GF, and even tried cheering them up when they announced the delay, and I still feel the same. Delays should be expected, honestly. And I’m personally happy to wait longer for a better product.

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My son is running the VR lab at his school and I got to try the Vive this weekend. Absolutely blown away (& I’ve been in tech for 30 years). The only thing that stopped me from ordering one Saturday was trying to figure out where I’d free up a 15’ square room space for it. The walk around and interact with stuff sensation in real physical space (vs watching a wraparound 3D movie like the Oculus) is unlike anything I’ve seen.

Anyone notice how some papers are now delivering VR enabled video stories? They use Google Cardboard for the VR but it’s a step towards mainstreaming the technology.

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