Hackaday article on Makerbot

Tymkrs

http://hackaday.com/2015/06/16/ask-hackaday-and-adafruit-the-new-ceo-of-makerbot/#comment-2615378

Didn't know if anyone has seen this article, but Chip and Parallax is getting a nice bit of love from the community! Yay Parallax!

idbruce

Thanks Tymkrs... That was interesting for a little while.... Then just ranting

GordonMcComb

Thanks for the link. I saw the serveral nice sentiments about Parallax and Chip. They may not know Ken as well, but he's an important part of the integrity of the company. So, a kind shout-out to our friend Ken.

Such anger out there in the world. If people don't like MakerBot or its products or its former CEO, I think there are one or two other 3D printers -- though I may be wrong here -- they can choose from.

The business model MakerBot has adopted is classic panic-mode you see in companies who have crossed the chasm into mainstream as the market leader (this is from the classic book, "Crossing the Chasm" - everyone should read it), and now feel their competitors closing in. There are a couple of predictable ways companies react to this shift in their market, and this is one of them. Sadly, it's the one that usually ends in defeat. But that's MakerBot's choice to make. Being (once) open source doesn't mean their business plan has to be decided by the community. Part of the open source concept is the freedom of choice. Customers have the choice to purchase something else.

Jen J.

Thanks for the share, Tymkrs.
We really do have some open source heroes around here.

Tymkrs

Absolutely agree about Ken, they're a power duo - along with the hardworking folks at Parallax. It's just a nice testament to how respected Parallax is - that even in Hackaday's comment section (notorious for vitriol), they're hurrahing Parallax and Chip

Publison

+1 about Chip and Ken.

I think the negatives towards Limor are unfounded, but that should not be debated here.

GordonMcComb

Publison wrote: »

I think the negatives towards Limor are unfounded, but that should not be debated here.

I'm not even sure why Adafruit is part of it, other than offering to serve as a centralized meeting place. The posters are assuming "guilt by association," I suppose.

I've found Limor to be shy, despite all the videos she's in*. For my work with Adafruit, Phil Torrone has usually served as the go-between, and being a media type himself, he's always been helpful and friendly.

Really, I don't understand the enmity of some people. As if life isn't stressful enough. Reading that thread reminds me why I don't participate in those kinds of forums.

*People are surprised to hear that actors like Christopher Lloyd and Cary Elwes are private and shy in real life. They may appear stand-offish and therefore rude of intrusions. The public assumes they are like their on-screen personaes, and can be put off that they are actual human beings. I guess for Limor, she needs to just stop doing the videos. Then no one will developed pre-conceived notions of how she ought to behave.

localroger

Yes I have dealt with hundreds of companies in my career and have never experienced anything as welcoming as my reception for the 2011 UPEW. It was an honor to meet every member of the Parallax team in person and in particular to meet Ken and Chip, who have teamed up to make one of the finest corporate entities I have ever dealt with. I have never known a company so quick to bend over backward to resolve an issue or correct a problem. And of course Chip made the PROPELLER, which has made a strange detour in my career lately, wow.