51–60 of 159 posts
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> If you can't spot the difference between a Ender 3 and an MK4 The author isn't saying that, they said it's "better than half the value". Something that's let's say 2/3 as good will definitely be obvious.
The initial cost of ownership is the only thing that matters?
I have a lot of respect for Armin, but it's pretty clear he doesn't really understand the specifics of what he's talking about here. > people are complaining (The MK4 firmware is not Open Source) the link here is to a reddit post ( https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/10g6fgv/prusa_givi... ) in which the complaint is not only not about the MK4's firmware, it's also not even about something not being open source.…
Now, the complaint about development is not being open is a weakness that should be fixed. I have not read evidence that Prusa does this. It does incorporates code from other projects from time to time.
I would like to see Prusa lean more strongly on open development.
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> If you can't spot the difference between a Ender 3 and an MK4 The author isn't saying that, they said it's "better than half the value". Something that's let's say 2/3 as good will definitely be obvious.
The initial cost of ownership is the only thing that matters?
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Businesses are more complex than just one facet. Not everything the business offers has to be a direct revenue driver; it builds trust with the brand and improves the experience by putting everything you need with respect to your printer in the same spot. Which of the following experiences delivers better value to the customer: 1. They buy a printer and can immediately slice and print stuff on the vendor's web app 2.…
Again I have to ask if you've ever used a Prusa, no really this time? Prusa users use Prusaslicer, not Cura. Printables.com often hosts gcode files that require no slicing at all by end users. These points completely aside -- do you think 3d printer novices are going to last long without learning a slicer? Is that really your assertion? Also, is installing Cura a "nightmare" ? So much explosive language!
Yes, installing and using Cura is a nightmare for non-technical users, and indeed serious users will have to install a slicer eventually. But that's the point: this product design locks it into the enthusiast market, and most consumers don't want to deal with that overhead.
Clicking "print this" on a model catalogue, having it fire up a cloud slicer thing, and pressing "go" is a better user experience for a novice, plain and simple, and I'm sick of arguing with your enlightened enthusiast takes here.
I think this is missing a little context. I believe Prusa and to some extent the older market leader Creality were sideswiped by a better product. A group of engineers got together and formed Bambu Labs. Their printer are all less than 2 years on market and they have become the new standard for the simple fact they just work. 3d Printing historically has been "early adopter". I'm long term tech. It took me a month of…
I have a lot of respect for Armin, but it's pretty clear he doesn't really understand the specifics of what he's talking about here. > people are complaining (The MK4 firmware is not Open Source) the link here is to a reddit post ( https://www.reddit.com/r/prusa3d/comments/10g6fgv/prusa_givi... ) in which the complaint is not only not about the MK4's firmware, it's also not even about something not being open source.…
Furthermore, the Bambu A1 is clearly positioned against the Prusa Mini - they're priced the same, have the same gantry style, but the A1 comes with a multi-material system.
Bambu's higher end printers (X1 Carbon, P1P, etc) are positioned against the Prusa Mk3/Mk4 in the ~$1000-1500 range.
Again, Armin doesn't know the specifics of what he's talking about, so the conclusions are nonsense.
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Mainly I think that this temptation is circumvented with strong leadership and weak investors. That big VC money is a poison, but if you don't take it then you can focus on the product without so much of the risk.
AGPL cloud service would circumvent this issue rather than relying purely on strong leadership and company DNA.
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It need not be predatory, nor need it be mandatory for users to take advantage of these features, nor need it be proprietary or non-free.
I agree, but I think the incentives tend to push towards user hostile results. It's a small jump for the business mind to go from free cloud optional to free cloud only to paid features cloud to subscription only cloud, or selling plastic to only supporting their own plastic, and so on. Web services are so cheap and profitable that it feels like every business converges towards them now. I'd really rather buy from a…
Why is this true though? Are 3D printers still evolving so quickly?
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The trouble is, the author doesn't at any point discuss what makes the products better. They just claim they are as if initial cost is the only factor.
Author here. For the price tag of a Prusa Mk4 you can get a Bambu X1 Carbon 3D which is, metric for metric, a better printer -- larger volume, 16 color prints, faster printing, better resolution, pretty much all stats. Go for Creality and you can get the K1 Max at $300 less than the Mk4 (currently on sale, so more like $400 less) which is even better, again, in every spec and comes with an ecosystem that Creality has…
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Then what's the point? It would take effort to develop these "features", the only benefit of which would be predatory. For example: > Bambu’s cloud slicer is a massive lost opportunity for Prusa. Bambu's cloud slicer is a complicated SaaS undertaking that incurs hosting and storage costs, yet doesn't (so far as I know) generate any revenue for Bambu Labs. So why do it, unless you want to make sure that a copy of what…
Businesses are more complex than just one facet. Not everything the business offers has to be a direct revenue driver; it builds trust with the brand and improves the experience by putting everything you need with respect to your printer in the same spot. Which of the following experiences delivers better value to the customer: 1. They buy a printer and can immediately slice and print stuff on the vendor's web app 2.…
Consumers? What use case are you imagining? Why is it better than a consumer going on amazon or to a physical store and buying a product?
3D printers are a manufacturing technology. At best it's suitable to hobbyists, DIYers, and enthusiasts.
If you can only print stuff, then you are limited to only what other people are willing to design for you. So you will learn CAD and other tools. At that point, you might as well invest in the effort in learning how to use a slicer. It's not really hard to use.
That said, I am all for making 3D printers more accessible and easier to use, but the magic of 3D printing isn't really in printing things but bringing to life stuff you designed, for your specific needs.