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ProvoCraft seems to be operating on a razor & blades model, and aggressively suing anyone who tries to provide another source for getting 'blades'. http://www.

ProvoCraft seems to be operating on a razor & blades model, and aggressively suing anyone who tries to provide another source for getting 'blades'. http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/2010/04/07/provo-craft-sues-make-the-cut/ http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/2010/04/07/provo-craft-sues-m... http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/2011/03/11/provo-craft-sues-sure-cuts-a-lot-alleging-copyright-violations/ http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/2011/03/11/provo-craft-sues-s... MakerBot, on the other hand, publishes the plans for their hardware so anyone can build it, and maintains thingiverse.com so anyone can design anything they want to print. I understand why the editor wants to draw a connection, but there are some significant differences in the two businesses' philosophies.

joezydeco 14y ago
So what would really kick things open is an open-source Cricut device. There has to be a way to make a cheaper rotary cutter. I've seen the Cricut in stores and it's crazy what they're charging for pattern cartridges.
- replicatorblog 14y ago
  They exist. This one is "Open" in that you can cut images you design in vector software like Adobe Illustrator, but has its own drawbacks. Mostly horrible software interfaces that act as intermediaries. http://www.graphteccorp.com/craftrobo/ http://www.graphteccorp.com/craftrobo/
tlrobinson 14y ago
I love that Make The Cut responded to the lawsuit by partnering with a cutter that doesn't require silly proprietary cartridges (http://knkzing.make-the-cut.com/ http://knkzing.make-the-cut.com/), however KNK Zing is advertised as "open source" when it doesn't appear to actually be open source in any way: http://knkusa.com/?shopp_product=knk-zing http://knkusa.com/?shopp_product=knk-zing I've noticed this trend among non-programmers of using "open source" incorrectly to describe anything that's not completely locked down.

joezydeco 14y ago

So what would really kick things open is an open-source Cricut device. There has to be a way to make a cheaper rotary cutter. I've seen the Cricut in stores and it's crazy what they're charging for pattern cartridges.

replicatorblog 14y ago
They exist. This one is "Open" in that you can cut images you design in vector software like Adobe Illustrator, but has its own drawbacks. Mostly horrible software interfaces that act as intermediaries. http://www.graphteccorp.com/craftrobo/ http://www.graphteccorp.com/craftrobo/

tlrobinson 14y ago

I love that Make The Cut responded to the lawsuit by partnering with a cutter that doesn't require silly proprietary cartridges (http://knkzing.make-the-cut.com/ http://knkzing.make-the-cut.com/), however KNK Zing is advertised as "open source" when it doesn't appear to actually be open source in any way: http://knkusa.com/?shopp_product=knk-zing http://knkusa.com/?shopp_product=knk-zing I've noticed this trend among non-programmers of using "open source" incorrectly to describe anything that's not completely locked down.