There is so much noise on HN about repairability. Well here is some open hardware And it’s ”the Chinese printers have so much more features!”
I wish them well, but the value of their devices to date just does not equal the price. (The Prusa XL may change this and I'm really excited to play with one.
Someone has to take the hit with development. And that costs money.
>but the value of their devices to date just does not equal the price
Has the value in terms of price to features ever really been competitive? I got the MK3 soon after it was released and even then you could get an i3 clone for much cheaper that produced similar results. The Chinese clones didn’t have 3D printed parts either.
But now is the time Prusa is not price competitive?
Prusa's hat has been "it just works!". That's been the conceptual moat. That is the part that isn't distinctive anymore.
They're inexpensive. But they're not cheap. That's a problem for selling $1100 bedslingers.
https://blog.prusa3d.com/the-state-of-open-source-in-3d-prin... sure sounds like they no longer intend to be an "open source hardware company".
For example:
> Parts that can be considered consumables (e.g., thermistors, heater blocks, fans, printing plates, etc.) can be manufactured and sold commercially after the verification by the licensor based on the presentation of samples.
That is very much against the concept of open source.
Prusa is pretty open about this. They purchased ps so they could get government contracts in the US. It wasn't about improving retail costs for the average consumer.