3 ms·

I feel like you’re romanticizing what actually happened. Just look at makerbot, which was a very strong force in the early development of consumer 3D printing.

I feel like you’re romanticizing what actually happened. Just look at makerbot, which was a very strong force in the early development of consumer 3D printing. Damn near all their hardware and even their file formats are proprietary.

sircastor 4y ago
Makerbot ran into the very problem that Prusa is facing right now. Shortly after the release of the Replicator , there was IIRC a guy out of Utah who was selling essentially a Replicator with new badging on it (FlashForge). They had been open source for a long time, but ended up going proprietary when they were being pushed out of the market by competitors repackaging their work. They also ended up being a bad community member by seeking patents for designs that were already in the community. In my opinion, Prusa is what Makerbot was supposed to be. But it now seems that Prusa is struggling under the same trials that Makerbot faced before it.
- mitthrowaway2 4y ago
  Bre Pettis of Makerbot even posted a blog post of similar tone back in 2010, titled "Open Source Ethics and Dead End Derivatives", admonishing copycats for using Makerbot's open-source design files without contributing anything back. It used to be at this URL but they've taken it down, and I don't think the wayback machine has a snapshot. https://www.makerbot.com/stories/2010/03/25/open-source-ethics-and-dead-end-derivatives/ https://www.makerbot.com/stories/2010/03/25/open-source-ethi... Not long after that, they went full closed-source (and got bought out by Stratasys for a fortune). I'm sure Josef Prusa remembers that as well. I very much hope this isn't a sign that Prusa will make a similar pivot. I don't expect that it is.
  - sircastor 4y ago
    For anyone who is looking for it, someone _replicated_ it at their site at their own site (though it's not clear if it's the whole thing): https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/obstacles-to-open-source-hardware-3-the-makerbot-derivatives-controversy/2010/04/04 https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/obstacles-to-open-source-hard...
- Brian_K_White 4y ago
  Sells a product literally called Replicator, has a problem with copying.
- bayesian_horse 4y ago
  Prusa is struggling with producing Chinese 3D printers outside China... Because they really aren't that much better than Artillery or Creality (and probably others), just at double the price, usually.

sircastor 4y ago

Makerbot ran into the very problem that Prusa is facing right now. Shortly after the release of the Replicator , there was IIRC a guy out of Utah who was selling essentially a Replicator with new badging on it (FlashForge). They had been open source for a long time, but ended up going proprietary when they were being pushed out of the market by competitors repackaging their work. They also ended up being a bad community member by seeking patents for designs that were already in the community. In my opinion, Prusa is what Makerbot was supposed to be. But it now seems that Prusa is struggling under the same trials that Makerbot faced before it.

mitthrowaway2 4y ago
Bre Pettis of Makerbot even posted a blog post of similar tone back in 2010, titled "Open Source Ethics and Dead End Derivatives", admonishing copycats for using Makerbot's open-source design files without contributing anything back. It used to be at this URL but they've taken it down, and I don't think the wayback machine has a snapshot. https://www.makerbot.com/stories/2010/03/25/open-source-ethics-and-dead-end-derivatives/ https://www.makerbot.com/stories/2010/03/25/open-source-ethi... Not long after that, they went full closed-source (and got bought out by Stratasys for a fortune). I'm sure Josef Prusa remembers that as well. I very much hope this isn't a sign that Prusa will make a similar pivot. I don't expect that it is.
- sircastor 4y ago
  For anyone who is looking for it, someone _replicated_ it at their site at their own site (though it's not clear if it's the whole thing): https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/obstacles-to-open-source-hardware-3-the-makerbot-derivatives-controversy/2010/04/04 https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/obstacles-to-open-source-hard...
Brian_K_White 4y ago
Sells a product literally called Replicator, has a problem with copying.
bayesian_horse 4y ago
Prusa is struggling with producing Chinese 3D printers outside China... Because they really aren't that much better than Artillery or Creality (and probably others), just at double the price, usually.