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The Glowforge -Cheap cool desktop CNC machine


popwfx
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This looks really cool - as long as the thing is stable and likely to last 3-5yrs minimum then I think it is worth the price!

 

I'm lusting after the pro version which has the airfilter built in.

 

http://glowforge.com/

 

Plus the simple mode where it cuts where a sharpie draw lines are is pure usability genius for those times you don't need precision and just want to get something done quick.

 

 

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Nevermind.  Nothing to see here. 

 

Turns out the glowforge's firmware requires you to be online and authenticated to their cloud in order to print/cut anything at all!

 

http://www.tested.com/tech/548192-going-depth-glowforge-laser-cutter/

 

how lame!!  :mad:  This means problems like:

 

  1. Security / Privacy  - So if I pay $4K for a device, you're telling me I'm also submitting to their company and servers ALL of my content and IP that I want to print?  My art, my inventions?  If I have a business selling things they also know my financials by knowing how many times I print what widget??   This is a MAJOR invasion -why do they not only get to know what I print, but get to keep the digital source file of my many hours work that they can repurpose, analyze or submit to 3rd parties??
  2. DRM / IP control - The can authorize or NOT what you can print - let"s say you want to engrave your macbook and Apple says no or you have to pay a license fee to modify your own property - guess what this isn't an ink jet or laser printer you can use offline. Boom you are shackled to only print every time with their permission!  What if want to cut a piece  or fab a part to fix or augment your Samsung product - nope not after these guys get u and running. What exact are you buying here - the honor of using your space, electricity, and bandwidth for them to sell you something?
  3. Uncontrollable Costs of Use - The cloud verifcation only means they can easily change their policy to charge you per print - or per material type you print - or even per millimeter of cutting done by the laser!! Fair enough that they might want to sell their own materials which may cut better- but to deny cutting or prohibit you from forecasting the return on investment with such policies is ridiculous.

 

Consumers need to wake up and stop accepting unreasonable and unethical control and business practices just to be an early adopter.  Open source hardware is so much more freeing - we need more of it.

 

Very disappointed that such cool tech is intentionally (read the article in the link above) crippled and used in such a controlling manner... :(

Edited by popwfx
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Nevermind.  Nothing to see here. 

 

Turns out the glowforge's firmware requires you to be online and authenticated to their cloud in order to print/cut anything at all!

 

http://www.tested.com/tech/548192-going-depth-glowforge-laser-cutter/

 

how lame!!  :mad:  This means problems like:

 

  1. Security / Privacy  - So if I pay $4K for a device, you're telling me I'm also submitting to their company and servers ALL of my content and IP that I want to print?  My art, my inventions?  If I have a business selling things they also know my financials by knowing how many times I print what widget??   This is a MAJOR invasion -why do they not only get to know what I print, but get to keep the digital source file of my many hours work that they can repurpose, analyze or submit to 3rd parties??
  2. DRM / IP control - The can authorize or NOT what you can print - let"s say you want to engrave your macbook and Apple says no or you have to pay a license fee to modify your own property - guess what this isn't an ink jet or laser printer you can use offline. Boom you are shackled to only print every time with their permission!  What if want to cut a piece  or fab a part to fix or augment your Samsung product - nope not after these guys get u and running. What exact are you buying here - the honor of using your space, electricity, and bandwidth for them to sell you something?
  3. Uncontrollable Costs of Use - The cloud verifcation only means they can easily change their policy to charge you per print - or per material type you print - or even per millimeter of cutting done by the laser!! Fair enough that they might want to sell their own materials which may cut better- but to deny cutting or prohibit you from forecasting the return on investment with such policies is ridiculous.

 

Consumers need to wake up and stop accepting unreasonable and unethical control and business practices just to be an early adopter.  Open source hardware is so much more freeing - we need more of it.

 

Very disappointed that such cool tech is intentionally (read the article in the link above) crippled and used in such a controlling manner... :(

Yeah, this sucks, but the people will fall to this, you'll see. And what's more, they will call you paranoid :rofl:

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Yeah, this sucks, but the people will fall to this, you'll see. And what's more, they will call you paranoid :rofl:

 

So someone sets up a business on Etsy or whereever - you print things to sell, the prices are online, the company knows so much about your financials, they might as well do your taxes too. :p:

 

Sad, I just saw one of these machines working  close up for the 1st time and it was very cool!  Watching the laser engrave was neat - so this would have been cool if I didn't have to give up control of my data or autonomy for future creations.  Hope someone makes an opensource one of these.  I still might get one if they are 'jailbreakable' and work totally offline - but I think they designed it so all of the processing is done on their servers - so even a jailbreak wouldnt work...

Edited by popwfx
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  • 1 month later...
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please explain what the privacy  problem is about ?

 

Look at the 3 points I listed above - I enumerate a number of horrible scenarios about how the cloud print (with NO option of offline print) is horrible.

 

It's not just about privacy (as if that's unimportant anyway) but about control and costs.

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  • 2 years later...
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A cost-effective machine can be refurbished with better parts after some time: better screws, well controller, and the price of a sensible total machine aren't a ton over building it without any preparation yet spares you several hours.

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I'd rather spend that money on a real CnC machine, one that mills real steel and aluminum etc

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bolton-Tools-CNC-Milling-Machining-XQK9630S-GSK-Controller-Free-Shipping-/253270984266

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PM-727-M-VERTICAL-BENCH-TOP-MILLING-MACHINE-3-AXIS-DRO-INSTALLED-FREE-SHIPPING/332554933892?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D50527%26meid%3D5a5b1e3c4408432c88e1cbc5c93ac167%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D382213467946%26itm%3D332554933892&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

Cutting cardboard with a laser is a waste of time and money. Frankly  if you're not specifically into making plastic prototypes and casts for vacuum moulding of plastic then 3d printing is a waste of m oney too.

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