I also felt the need to come to the forum to express my frustration over the fact that Glowforge somehow felt it was ok to actually charge for updates to software that should always be free. I didn’t spend $7500 (CAD) so I can spend more on the software. The very thought of this is ludicrous, to be completely blunt. This is quite literally a deal breaker for me, and if I went back in time to when I was shopping for a laser cutter, this would have absolutely swayed my decision toward another machine. I feel very strongly about this. The software was already lacking to begin with, providing VERY limited functionality. All of a sudden I’ve become aware that the Glowforge team has been focusing their efforts not on how to make the software better for their customers, but how to monetize it and make even more money. It might have been warranted if the company was struggling financially and had to find ways to sustain itself, but I’m certain this is not the case. The Glowforge business model is not the first of its kind (Inventables comes to mind), and I haven’t heard of others doing this. The Glowforge software should absolutely be free for life, along with all its updates! I know one of the goals of this free ‘beta’ is to gauge community response and push-back (if any). Well, this is my response, and I feel very strongly about it and hope others will follow suit.
I recently launched a second new business, and although this is my first laser cutter, it was certainly not going to be my last, so I’ll be perfectly clear: If Glowforge decides to proceed with this decision, I will absolutely guarantee that this will be my last Glowforge purchase.
I hope this message reaches the Glowforge team. Thank you and please stay safe.
EDIT: Whoa whoa, I just used the app again for a few minutes, and I had to come back and add this…
Are you being serious right now? You want to charge me to be able to flip an image vertically and horizontally? You consider this to be a premium feature? I am absolutely speechless.
While I’m here… you want me to pay so I can write text, draw a line, a square and a circle?
I have to say, I don’t feel good at all about the future of this app, because now I know the developers will be hard at work releasing updates to the paid members and throw us ‘free’ users the crumbs once in a while. I certainly would not pay a subscription to use the so-called premium features, even if just to prove a point. I sincerely hope this does not come to fruition.