[Louis Rossmann] Brother turns heel & becomes anti-consumer printer company
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Over time as 3D printers go from tinkerer's toy to household staple, I'd expect them to become more locked down and anti-consumer.
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Can't watch right now, but is there a list of affected devices?
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Except those who aren't.
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Always has been like that.
Not one single corporation is your friend or wants to be. All they want is your money. No exceptions.
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Has anyone figured out how to 3d print a 2d printer yet?
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Don't worry. Companies like Bambu and others are trying to lock down shift their printer business in the style of 2d printer companies. I hope it at least happens very slowly, but the enshittification is happening...
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By my count, it's been tried twice.
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Isn’t prusa now doing anti consumer / closed source stuff?
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I didn't even know he had a brother.
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Do we really need to crowd fund a FOSS printer? Really?
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They would have to become sci-fi level capable before they would be considered household staple items.
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There is a piece of software which will take a word document and convert it into an embossed 3D print file. So you could always just skip the middleman and 3D print yourself a plaque version of your document instead.
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"Bröther, please dö nöt becöme anti-cönsümer!"
"I töö yearn för the cöntrölled mönöpöly, thë ensittificätiön, the röt ecönömy!"
"Brother..."
"I'm leäving töö müch möney on thë täblë! We also hävë öür men Ëlön Müsk as thë shädöw prësidënt, Trümp ïs jüst hïs, ör räthër - öür püppët. Hë wïll dïsmänlë äll cönsümër prötëctïons, as thëy're in thë wäy öf öür pröfits."
"Bröthër... Plëäsë rëcönsïdër!"
"Änd whät ärë yöü gönnä dö if not? Go tö thë cönsümer prötection agencies Ëlön Müsk's DÖGË jüst dïsmäntlëd? Üse an öld HP LaserJet until yöü cän get repläcemënt rollers för it? You know öther parts öf it cän brëäk töö."
"Bröther... You became... ËVÏL! You betrayed EVERYTHING you previously stood for!"
"And Ï wïll dö it as mäny tïmes as nëëded. Ëvil? It's jüst büsïnëss. Mäybë yöü shöüld hävë rëcönsïdërëd yöür vötë för Trümp."
"Bröther... Büt thë tränsës hävë cäncëlled Pikamëë för thë wïzärd gämë! The wökenëss häve been deströying the gäme ïndüstry! I nëëded tö vötë för Dönäld Trümp! Why isn't it wörkïng äs ït wäs süppösëd tö!"
"Yöü vötëd ägäïnst yöür cläss interest öut öf püre hatred. I like ït vërÿ müch! Yöü knöw önë rëäsön she wäs älsö cäncelled wäs düë tö lölï? Ï dön't think Pröjëct 2025 wïll ällöw it för sö löng düë tö tötäl pörn ban!"
"PLEÄSE BRÖTHËR, NÖT THE LÖLÏ! PLEÄSE LET ME KEEP THË CÜTË ÄND FÜNNŸ!"
"Yöü vöted against yöür class interest, yöür personal interest... hahahahahaHAAHAHAHAHAAAA! Yöür sö fünny! Ÿöü'rë thë përfëct vötër för më! Ÿöü'rë thë përfëct cönsümër ëvën! Töö dümb tö rëälïzë äll thë pöliticäl wörkings aröünd yöürself. Änd when anything göes wröng, yöü bläme the minörities öf this söciety. Nöw get exited för Bröther AI, a sübscriptiön service which is essentiäl för öperating the printer! Get ready för price hikes! Get ready för shörter lasting printers!"
"You're truly despicable bröther!"
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You sctuallly can’t sell third-party printers legally, because all printers will include an ink fingerprint which can be traced back to that specific printer. So if someone prints a ransom note, the FBI will be knocking on their door by the end of the day.
There’s literally a certification process to be allowed to sell printers, and one of the biggest criteria for that certification is agreeing to maintain that fingerprint database. The issue is that this certification process also ensures there’s a de facto near monopoly on printers, which leads to BS like HP making it increasingly difficult to use affordable ink. They can be blatantly anti-consumer, because they’re protected from any competition.
There’s a reason HP hasn’t already been priced out by some cheap Chinese competitor who is able to undercut the competition. And it’s not because of the difficulty in manufacturing or the price of components. It’s because no other companies are allowed to sell printers.
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Capitalism is the breeding ground of parasitism. The incentive structures needs to change. Good corporate governance and long term sustainability need to trump short term turnover and fiduciary role to always go up.
As it exists, corporate incentive structures promote leadership by psychopaths that will go to the utmost consequence to drive the last cent out of their customers. This is especially true in the US, which by virtue of competition, metastasises to the entire western world. -
Bambu is working on it already — can’t print unless you’re connected to the internet and send your files through their server, can’t connect to the printer with other slicers besides their slicer.
They had to walk that back some; there is now a “developer mode” where old standard functionality is still exposed, but they’re clearly working as hard as they can to turn it shitty.
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Bambu is working on it already — can’t print unless you’re connected to the internet and send your files through their server, can’t connect to the printer with other slicers besides their slicer.
They had to walk that back some; there is now a “developer mode” where old standard functionality is still exposed, but they’re clearly working as hard as they can to turn it shitty.
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Its been doing that for 50+ years. But just like how capitalism expects growth, the trend is exponential.
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I have a Brother printer at work that's old enough that I don't have a single thumb drive small enough to work with it. Haven't tried in a while, but iirc it tops out at 8gb and the smallest I have is 32gb.
But it works fine over the network, so I'll just carry on ignoring the firmware update it's been begging me to install for two years.
