First the Closed Source discussions [1], and now completely outsourcing to China? What sets them apart from any other hardware company now?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MakerBot_Industries#Closed_sou...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MakerBot_Industries#Closed_sou...
Product Chart has a section for 3d printers with open source design:
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.
Neither does open source software tbh.
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.