4 ms·

We really should try to promote 3D printing companies that support the open source movement and local manufacturing. Maybe we should set up a wikipedia category

by 3dfan 10y ago

We really should try to promote 3D printing companies that support the open source movement and local manufacturing. Maybe we should set up a wikipedia category for open source 3d printers? Product Chart has a section for 3d printers with open source design: http://www.productchart.com/3d_printers/sets/4 http://www.productchart.com/3d_printers/sets/4

MBCook 10y ago
They tried. And the result is that as they got press and notoriety people took their open plans and made replicas in China and sold them at a cost that massively undercut MB. If they had stayed open source they would have gone under years ago, probably years before Systrays bought them. Open hardware doesn't really seem to be a sustainable business, at least not when what you're making costs as much as a 3D printer. A brand name isn't worth a ton when an identical rip-off product is 40% cheaper and performs the same.
- Eridrus 10y ago
  > Open hardware doesn't really seem to be a sustainable business Neither does open source software tbh.
  - MBCook 10y ago
    It seems to be, at best, something you try and use as a value add to your real service like DB consulting.
    - trentlott 10y ago
      Why not make your real service on-site repair? That's less outsourceable than consulting, even.
      - reustle 10y ago
        Who is going to pay for on-site repair for consumer 3d printers? Only a handful of businesses that actually rely on 3d printers use a MakerBot.
  - taneq 10y ago
    Open source software is a sustainable business in that you use it to foster a consulting business. Write something that fills a commercial need but is complex to configure, open source it, and then sell tech support to the users that tried to set up your system, sunk costs into it, then realised they were out of their depth. Open hardware works similarly in that you offer your design and then sell a reference build of it. There will always be some percentage of users who are attracted by the fact that it's 'free' but just want the finished product and don't care about building it themselves. It's a viable business model, it just doesn't scale the way closed-source scales. It only works when you're selling something new that hasn't been mega-mass-produced and commoditised yet. If you want to design something once then churn out millions of units, don't open-source your design.

by 3dfan 10y ago

MBCook 10y ago

They tried. And the result is that as they got press and notoriety people took their open plans and made replicas in China and sold them at a cost that massively undercut MB. If they had stayed open source they would have gone under years ago, probably years before Systrays bought them. Open hardware doesn't really seem to be a sustainable business, at least not when what you're making costs as much as a 3D printer. A brand name isn't worth a ton when an identical rip-off product is 40% cheaper and performs the same.

Eridrus 10y ago
> Open hardware doesn't really seem to be a sustainable business Neither does open source software tbh.
- MBCook 10y ago
  It seems to be, at best, something you try and use as a value add to your real service like DB consulting.
  - trentlott 10y ago
    Why not make your real service on-site repair? That's less outsourceable than consulting, even.
    - reustle 10y ago
      Who is going to pay for on-site repair for consumer 3d printers? Only a handful of businesses that actually rely on 3d printers use a MakerBot.
- taneq 10y ago
  Open source software is a sustainable business in that you use it to foster a consulting business. Write something that fills a commercial need but is complex to configure, open source it, and then sell tech support to the users that tried to set up your system, sunk costs into it, then realised they were out of their depth. Open hardware works similarly in that you offer your design and then sell a reference build of it. There will always be some percentage of users who are attracted by the fact that it's 'free' but just want the finished product and don't care about building it themselves. It's a viable business model, it just doesn't scale the way closed-source scales. It only works when you're selling something new that hasn't been mega-mass-produced and commoditised yet. If you want to design something once then churn out millions of units, don't open-source your design.