Tag: upgrades

Upgrades and obsolescence [08/25/2010]

[This is an excellent example of the kinds of abandoned, nearly finished blog posts sitting around in my drafts folder.  This was essentially a fully formed, fully edited, and formatted blog post that was relevant at the time.  It’s hilariously still relevant in a world where electronics are less user-upgradeable and user-repairable than ever.]

I mentioned my experiences owning a first generation Rio PMP300 MP3 player.  I liked that model because it was “upgradeable” – I could pop in a new SD chip for an additional 64 Megs of space. 1  This brings to mind different kinds of “upgradable” products:

  1. Limited upgrades. My Rio could only be upgraded with a maximum of an additional 64 Megs.  This made it comparatively insignificant to other market options fairly quickly.  There’s just no reason why the Rio needed to limited to maximum SD card upgrade.  It had great battery life and was a little bit hackable – I’d still be using it today2 if I could upgrade it in the 4-16Gig range.  Limit a consumer’s upgrades and you basically guarantee they’ll be a consumer again in the future.  Just not necessarily for that same company.  ;)
  2. Planned obsolescence. Perhaps it was Rio’s plan all along to create a product that would be useless as soon as a 128 Meg chip became widely available.
  3. Scheduled updates. Antivirus software, antispyware software, and firewall software.
  4. Service and subscription plans. Why would I update the maps in my GPS now that my trust ‘Droid has Google Maps?
  5. Abandonment/lack of support. Any closed source/proprietary consumer product that gets abandoned is put in a tough spot.  Perhaps if Rio had published the source for their firmware I could go back and use my old Rio.  We’ll never know.  Once most companies have moved on to a new product, there’s no reason for opening their old source code.  In fact, they probably think of it as proprietary3 when really it’s just a festering chunk of old code that’s useless to everyone.
  6. Expensive upgrades/refills. This is some of the worst kind of upgrade nonsense.  Inkjet printer cartridges and razor refills are prime examples of offering a loss-leader/cheap entrance price in the hopes of sticking customers with expensive refills.  This business model is specifically designed to trap the unwary.  One of the most annoying side effects of this business model is the original product, the printer for instance, is only just barely more expensive then the refills.
  7. Unique upgrades/proprietary connectors. This list just goes on and on.  You must use their special batteries, special film, special applicator, unique power adapter, special charger, super special speedy charger or you’ll void the warranty.  My personal favorite of the above is the “super special speedy charger.”  Why would you make a slow charger, if not for the sole purpose of selling a better charger?  Why not just charge a little more for your product and include a good charger??
  8. Lock-in. Inkjet printer cartridges and razor refills are prime examples of offering a cheap entrance price in order to lock the consumer in with expensive refills.
  9. Lack of future compatibility. It’s easy enough to make a product backwards compatible.  You have all the information you need, namely existing products, in order to build backwards compatibility into your newest products.  However, there’s precious little reason for most manufacturers to do so.
  10. No upgrades. Can you imagine a product that could include an “upgrade path,” but doesn’t?  Yeah, you can.  They’re called the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.  Why can’t you install a new battery, more memory, larger hard drive?  Why doesn’t it have a USB port or expandable memory?  I’ll tell you why.  So that you have to invest in a more expensive model initially.  This forces the consumer to choose between overspending initially on something they may never need and buying a product that will become useless too soon.
Drafts Zero - The Lost Blog Posts
  1. Misnamer [11/28/2010]
  2. The Lost Blog Posts
  3. Plastruder! [Draft 12/25/2009]
  4. UNTITLED [Draft 12/25/2009]
  5. Preparing to print [Draft 12/27/2009]
  6. More prints [Draft 01/04/2010]
  7. Prototype Pricing [Draft 01/19/2010]
  8. MakerBot tuning [Draft 01/20/2010]
  9. Plastic Screw Anchor [Draft 02/02/2010]
  10. Magic [Draft 02/03/2010]
  11. How are you printing with PLA? [Draft 02/16/2010]
  12. Rebuilding my extruder [Draft 02/16/2010]
  13. MY robot [Draft 02/18/2010]
  14. more things i learned [Draft 02/20/2010]
  15. First commissioned piece! [Draft 02/22/2010]
  16. MakerBot: Toy or Tool? [02/25/2010]
  17. Idea for Skeinforge settings… [Draft 03/27/2010]
  18. RepRap and MakerBot alternatives [Draft 04/05/2010]
  19. RepRap Parts for Sale [Draft 04/07/2010]
  20. Where is the Othercutter? [Draft 06/08/2015]
  21. Mendel Parts – Printed, Cast, CNC’d, Lasercut or Injection Molded? [Draft 04/12/2010]
  22. MakerBot Operator’s Manual [06/04/20210]
  23. MakerBot on CBS! [07/07/2010]
  24. New Print: Soft-Pawed Albino Stoat of South Wales Cookie Cutter [07/07/2010]
  25. House calls [07/11/2010]
  26. Digital assistant? [08/05/2010]
  27. MakerBot + Junk = Stuff! [08/06/2010]
  28. Design choices in RepRap, Goals of RepRap [08/14/2010]
  29. Upgrades and obsolescence [08/25/2010]
  30. Dear Anonymous [08/25/2010]
  31. The ultimate in customer service [08/26/2010]
  32. Open Source Makes You Smarter [08/27/2010]
  33. Getting my Plastruder MK5 running [09/06/2010]
  34. Weird new kind of spam [09/19/2010]
  35. An open letter to Ms. Word [10/18/2010]
  36. Printing with PLA again! [10/18/2010]
  37. Halloween costume too [10/27/2010]
  38. Dream jobs [10/29/2010]
  39. The nuances of time travel [10/31/2010]
  40. Printed Pink Panther Person [11/22/2010]
  41. Skein them all and let ‘Bot sort them all out [11/24/2010]
  42. The Patents for disc shooters [12/10/2010]
  43. Princess Bride with Lightsabers [12/13/2010]
  44. Dilbert comic [12/13/2010]
  45. Ultimachine PLA review [12/15/2010]
  46. Mendel to the power of 101 [12/21/2010]
  47. Potential improvements for Leonardo Voltron [12/27/20210]
  48. You can keep your filthy money [12/28/2010]
  49. I watched Primer the other night [12/30/2010]
  1. It’s amazing how insignificant that seems now.  I routinely carry more than 100 times that in my pocket on a regular basis and more than 250 times that amount in my phone. [↩]
  2. Probably. [↩]
  3. Even if it is now behind the times. [↩]

MakerBot woes

Building my MakerBot and getting it printing reliably was challenging, but totally doable by a technical novice such as myself.  I have lots of people on the MakerBot Operators group to thank for their patience and help in getting my MakerBot online. 1  Looking back, I spent about a month building and then calibrating my ‘bot. 2

It’s easy for me to forget that first month of occasional frustrations and triumphant victories, now that I’ve been printing successfully for more than eight months.  It actually makes me a little sad when I read people writing about their own frustrations and how they’re ready to throw in the towel.  The most recent example was noobcake getting frustrated with her ‘bot and getting ready to sell it off in parts.  Thankfully, Spacexula swooped in to help her out.

This brings me to We Alone On Earth‘s recent post.  WAOE are a group of introspective, philosophically and technologically minded twenty-somethings.  To give you you an idea of their frustration with their ‘bot, the post was entitled, “MakerBot: not very much fun at the moment (caveat emptor)”  Yikes. 3  I realize that WAOE has revised their original post several times since the original publishing date – but they have a lot of legitimate concerns.

WAOE list off seven problems with the MakerBot.  I’m not going to refute these points – but rather offer another perspective on them.  After several updates, WAOE offer additional comments, I’ll include them here in “[]”.

  1. The PTFE is prone to melting.  [WAOE expects the new MK5 Plastruder will resolve this issue]. I have never heard of a PTFE barrier melting.  I’ve heard of them deforming from a blockage and had one develop a clog which I had to remove.  Several people have purchased MakerGear PEEK replacements – but these are far from necessary.  I clogged my first barrier once, cleared it, clogged it again, and am now using a slice of it as an insulating washer.
  2. Inexplicable printing behavior due to noise.  [WAOE fixed this issue by twisting wires and installing a resistor]. I’ve never had this problem, but I know others have.  Like WAOE, I’ve heard of people fixing these issues by twisting wires, using resistors, or ferrite beads.  Perhaps my workstation has less electronic noise, but I haven’t had to do any of these things.  Then again, perhaps my prints suffer from a certain degree of noise?
  3. Printing large objects is hard without a heated build plate.  [WAOE notes this isn’t an issue if you’re good at soldering]. Totally true for ABS, but not PLA.4  However, this is really a problem with the print media – not with the printer, right?  ABS will warp as it cools, unfortunate but true.  I’ve had less warping problems in warm weather or during with a second print – basically when the build platform is already warmed up.  Zaggo’s printruder is one of the largest things I’ve printed.  Interestingly, his design takes into account that certain parts are expected to warp. 5  Or check out Clothbot’s train track – it was designed with a lattice/correlated bottom to prevent warp problems.  Plastic warps – but with careful and thoughtful designing, this shouldn’t be a limitation.
  4. The heated build platform is difficult to build and requires a relay kit. [WAOE notes this isn’t an issue if you’re good at soldering]. I can’t dispute either point.  I just got both and haven’t had a chance to assemble them yet.  I’m assuming the heated build platform, which requires SMT soldering, will be challenging.  Frankly, fear of SMT soldering was the big reason why I didn’t jump into buying a MakerBot sooner. 6  The MakerBot HBP is just one option for a heated platform – there’s several others out there.  Don’t like SMT soldering?  Try out Rick’s platform over at MakerGear.  More into DIY?  Well, use the plans posted for any of several other variations.  As for the relay kit – it’s not a requirement – but it will prevent MOFSETs from burning out on your extruder motherboard. 7
  5. Calibrating Skeinforge is hard.  [WAOE notes this is still an issue]. I like to use the word, “challenging.”  A better way to look at MakerBot calibration is that you get out of it what you put into it.  I have my MakerBot tuned to the point that I get reasonably good looking durable parts.  Sure, I could spend more time and get even better looking parts.  However, once I got it printing reliably I was much more interested in printing new things than refining the printing process.  I’ll get around to improving the print quality even more – but I’m having too much fun right now.
  6. The Plastruder MK4 feed system is unreliable. [WAOE expects the new MK5 Plastruder will resolve this issue]. Getting the tension on the MK4 idler wheel is just one of those aspects of my MakerBot I had to experiment with and get just right.  I’ve been printing reliably for eight months using the same idler wheel and gear.  With proper maintenance, flossing the extruder, and clearing chips out of the extruder the current setup is serving me well.
  7. The threaded rods are of poor quality. [WAOE are getting new threaded rods, which should fix their problem.]. Of my four threaded rods, one is definitely warped and two have very minor warps.  By experimenting, rotating them just so, and printing a few wobble arrestors I’ve eliminated most of these issues.  You can definitely get more expensive and straighter threaded rods and improve your build quality.

A MakerBot Cupcake CNC kit is not for everyone – but the kit can be build and operated by anyone who is willing to invest the time to do so.  It is a cheap, hackable machine that is literally going to be just as useful as you make it.  Want less warpage, higher resolution, more reliable extrusion?  You can buy an upgrade, build one from their plans, or design your own solution. 8  Want a CNC mill, CNC pencil, or CNC music box?  Design the very first one!  Then again, you don’t have to do any of these things.

A MakerBot kit is just a platform for your creativity.  It’s just that big. 9

As for you, WAOE, if you want some help – drop me a line!

  1. If I had an acceptance speech, I’d go on and on while the music played. [↩]
  2. My first successful print was on 12/31/2009. [↩]
  3. Don’t get me wrong – I love my MakerBot, but I readily acknowledge its limitations. [↩]
  4. From what I heard.  :)  [↩]
  5. It was designed before availability or widespread use of heated build platforms. [↩]
  6. Well, that and a little thing called “money.” [↩]
  7. Did I get that part right? [↩]
  8. I haven’t installed a single non-printed upgrade. [↩]
  9. Or that small.  :)  [↩]

MakerGear Enhanced Operator’s Pack

I placed my order for a MakerGear Enhanced Operator’s Pack on 8/11/2010, it shipped the same day, and arrived today 8/13/2010.  My extruder has been working really well and without problems with ABS since my last rebuild.  I’m really hoping I won’t need these bits any time soon…

Thanks Rick and Karen!!!

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