RE: Really, Prusa?
I saw this thread and immediately thought of Tim Dillons "influencers helping the homeless" clip... Artesanal mustard indeed.
Has management now officially decided that you are no longer catering to 3D printing enthusiasts but to suckers?
https://www.prusa3d.com/applications/prusa-signature-oak_243878/[Where is the facepalm emoji when you need it?]
RE: Really, Prusa?
What the Signature Oak has taken away from me -- and from all of Prusa's core customers -- is focus. Focus on the products that matter.
Respectfully, I have to disagree.
Any venture that has been going on as long as this one has, run by the same people, needs to make room for fun or it will burn out. I'm glad that the Prusa team and Josef Prusa allowed themselves some time for something fun and beautiful that solves no problem except the problem of making something artistic.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Do not ask me how I know this 😉
Prusa Core One, MK4S w/ MMU3 (formerly MK4 / MMU3, MK3S+/MMU2), 2 Prusa MINI+, Octoprint. ASA, PETG, PVB, (some) PLA.
RE: Really, Prusa?
My last comment on this thread:
RE: Really, Prusa?
I personally can't understand having a problem with this product. For the *vast* majority of people, it doesn't make sense. It's essentially just a prettier version of the same tool. But what's wrong with that? Prusa isn't taking away anything from everyone who wants a regular printer. At worst, the presumably exorbitant price tag will just take money from those who have it in abundance, and make it available to the company that makes products that we like.
Is it a bit silly to have such a finely-crafted enclosure? Sure. But 250 people are going to cough up the cash, and I'm sure that most of them are going to enjoy their purchase.
RE: Really, Prusa?
I suppose it’s an internet thing: loudly proclaiming to everyone that you’re not going to buy some product.
Also “I want to print X! Why are you wasting (minimal) resources developing a Y instead? … You morons! You’re going down! As a company you’re dead to me!!! This is the last thing I ever buy from you!!!!!”
And this is from the enthusiasts and fans, of course. 🙄
As far as I can tell, from the blog or somewhere, they had a Core One with a bamboo case as a joke, and people said they wanted to buy it. So they designed a nice wooden case to throw a little work to a local carpenter.
Big deal. I wouldn’t want one myself, but live and let live, hey?
RE: Really, Prusa?
genius!
How to Profit from Your Genius
...no longer catering to 3D printing enthusiasts but to suckers?
So many here with brilliant ideas. Here is how to profit by your genius ideas.
Like Josef, you just need to donate tons of free engineering and innovation to a fringe idea, a decade before it goes mainstream. You must personally develop features that soon the entire industry will copy. Of course, you will be gambling on unproven technology.
Then start a one-man company in your basement, and build early machines by yourself. Without marketing or slave wages, build your business solely on the quality of your hardware and rave reviews.
If you beat the odds, you will sell 200,000 machines from a backwater country, all over the world.
Then people who have made nothing, and have no investment, can tell you how to do your job better.
RE: Really, Prusa?
Sorry, but I think in that respect you are wrong:
"Investment" in a sense of spending a four-digit sum on a "finished" product that turns out to be not nearly as finished in oh-so-many ways. Then that.
RE: Really, Prusa?
@tdk408, your argument seems to boil down to: "Because Jo Prusa is a hero of the industry, he and his company can't be criticized."
But I am afraid that would lead to the downfall of the company. If critical feedback is not given, the company becomes complacent -- develops products which gradually fall behind the competition in terms of features and performance, ships immature products, wastes time on gimmicks which cater to a loyal but shrinking audience etc.
Beyond the financial investment in a printer which @mnentwig mentioned (which I expect the manufacturer to support and debug), I do feel some "emotional investment" into Prusa. I appreciate what they have done to for the industry, how they are manufacturing in Europe under fair conditions, how they keep a large degree of openness in their designs. I bought their product for those reasons, and I want them to stay on the map and stay relevant. But does that mean that I must not criticize them? Quite to the contrary, I think.
RE: Really, Prusa?
I don't know why you refer to Czech Republic as a "backwater country", they make excellent cars, they are clearly capable of developing 3D printers and many interesting inventions are of Czech origin...
Also I find it a bit strange that a person is above criticism just because they had success in their field... Would you defend Jack Welch with the same enthusiasm?
...no longer catering to 3D printing enthusiasts but to suckers?
So many here with brilliant ideas. Here is how to profit by your genius ideas.
Like Josef, you just need to donate tons of free engineering and innovation to a fringe idea, a decade before it goes mainstream. You must personally develop features that soon the entire industry will copy. Of course, you will be gambling on unproven technology.
Then start a one-man company in your basement, and build early machines by yourself. Without marketing or slave wages, build your business solely on the quality of your hardware and rave reviews.
If you beat the odds, you will sell 200,000 machines from a backwater country, all over the world.
Then people who have made nothing, and have no investment, can tell you how to do your job better.
RE: Really, Prusa?
I don't know why you refer to Czech Republic as a "backwater country", they make excellent cars, they are clearly capable of developing 3D printers and many interesting inventions are of Czech origin...
Never mind, that's just tdk408 telling us which country he is from without telling us which country he is from. 😉
RE:
...no longer catering to 3D printing enthusiasts but to suckers?
So many here with brilliant ideas. Here is how to profit by your genius ideas.
Like Josef, you just need to donate tons of free engineering and innovation to a fringe idea, a decade before it goes mainstream. You must personally develop features that soon the entire industry will copy. Of course, you will be gambling on unproven technology.
Then start a one-man company in your basement, and build early machines by yourself. Without marketing or slave wages, build your business solely on the quality of your hardware and rave reviews.
If you beat the odds, you will sell 200,000 machines from a backwater country, all over the world.
Then people who have made nothing, and have no investment, can tell you how to do your job better.
Even if the engineering effort for Signature Oak is small, the messaging isn’t. Prusa built its reputation on engineering, openness, and practical use. A luxury Core One risks diluting that identity, not because wood is bad, but because it shifts the brand from “best engineered” toward “lifestyle object.” That’s a valid business move, but Prusa fans are justified in reacting to it.
There’s also a difference between “harmless” and “productive.” Collector editions make sense when the core platform is mature and stable. When users are still waiting on improvements that directly affect reliability, usability, or openness, cosmetic editions can feel a bit tone-deaf, even if they don’t materially delay development.
This pushback isn’t entitlement or resistance to change; it’s brand stewardship from the community that helped build Prusa’s reputation in the first place. Questioning whether this aligns with Prusa’s original values isn’t outrage... it’s feedback.
Oh, and I also live in a backwater country called the United States.
RE: Really, Prusa?
Prusa isn’t burning engineering sprints on this. It was a cute little side-project for someone at the office.
I’m fairly confident that the only consumers who are at risk of being alienated are in this thread. It’s a pretty cabinet that you can’t afford. Get over it.
RE:
Prusa isn’t burning engineering sprints on this. It was a cute little side-project for someone at the office.
I’m fairly confident that the only consumers who are at risk of being alienated are in this thread. It’s a pretty cabinet that you can’t afford. Get over it.
You might be right that it’s harmless, but dismissing criticism as jealousy doesn’t really move the conversation forward.
RE: Really, Prusa?
What motivates me, and perhaps Jürgen as well, to criticize Prusa is more the concern for them. The fear of falling behind. The fear of Chinese competition, which plays by unfair means (government subsidies). It's not envy at all; buying an Oak wouldn't be a problem. But what for? My Core One and the other older Prusas are still working. We don't have that many great technology companies like Prusa in Europe. In America, you might not see it as such a big deal; after all, there are plenty of tech companies. Personally, I'm proud of Prusa that we in Europe can still achieve something like this, and I will only buy Prusa products. But for others, this argument, along with the quality argument for the high price, unfortunately no longer holds water. As we move more into the consumer market, price becomes increasingly important. Therefore, the only way to compete is with maximum quality, features, and the best, fastest support for hardware and software. Anyone who works in German/European industry, like me, knows how many resources a project like the Oak (which is like a completely new product) consumes—not so much in development, but more in approval and certification. The disruption it caused in departments at Prusa, which were probably already overloaded, is unacceptable. It's important to remember that it's only 1000 employees, who were already quite busy dealing with the shipping chaos of the Core One. This could have been handled later. I won't say any more about it; understand it or leave it.
RE: Really, Prusa?
My last comment was rude. I apologize.
I stand by the position that this was a fun diversion for someone at the office that is inconsequential to the business.