Warning: this is as much a rant as anything remotely useful. Oh, and don't comment without reading the whole thing :)

The Internet is not a democracy. More specifically, blog commenting systems aren't a democracy. Blog authors and administrators get to decide which comments show up on their blog, and which do not. On my own blog, I remove spam messages (or I let Akismet do it in most cases), and the one or two truly offensive troll comments I get every once in a while -- usually only if a post hits reddit or /. . Other than that, I like to keep the spectrum of comments, good and bad, on my blog. I don't pre-moderate as that's just exudes untrustworthiness, and it's a pain to do.

Not everyone agrees with that approach.

The DIY 3d Printer Blog

When you see a blog post like this one, and see the overwhelmingly positive response, you're only seeing part of the picture. See, in this case, Junior moderates his comments and only lets through the ones which meet the goals of his business and his agenda. It's not a democracy, the blog owner gets to decide what shows up. Silencing opposition is a pretty big and powerful hammer. As a blog owner, I'm all for keeping this level of control with the blog owner. But also, as a citizen of the Internet, I try to be very fair and reasoned in how I wield it.

I've been looking forward to the release of his 3d Printer for quite some time. What Junior finally announced was a bit of a let down, but something I would still consider, as the resolution on the printer is spectacular. These two paragraphs in that post, however, set off a few alarms:

Because of this, we think would make more sense to move for only a basic kit, where we would provide all documentation needed to build the Printer, as well the Resin formula and just sell the software and the controller board. The documentation would have the detail technical specification, BOM and Suppliers.

This basic kit (Document + Software + Controller Board) would be sold around $600 USD, but even for that we would need a good volume to be able to produce it.
For this reason we're creating a Pre-order list for both Kits (full and basic), so we can decide the best way to move forward.

The controller board is fairly inexpensive. There are tons of multi-axis boards out there, including many OSH (Open Source Hardware) ones. Almost all are under $150. While I'm sure his controller board offers some additional things, it's probably nothing out of the ordinary. So the real value here is the software. This was further corroborated by his "Wow!!! Thanks for all the emails!!!" blog post where he enumerated several of the pricing tiers:

Software + Complete CD (399 USD - including shipping):
The CD above + full license of our software (features of the software will be in the FAQ)
Software price after Indiegogo: (549 USD)

Basic Kit I (Software + Controler board + Complete CD) (599 USD - shipping not included):
All items above + 1 controller board (able to control the entire printer).
(This basic kit does not include motors or linear guides or projector)
Price After Indiegogo: (849 USD)

...

Unfortunately we will be able to deliver only 250 full kits this year for this Indiegogo campaign, because of production limitation and we will probably just take new orders next year once we deliver all Indiegogo perks.

So Junior isn't *really* selling a printer. He's selling software. That's ok, just not quite what I had expected. As a business, it makes sense, as the software is where the margin is. In contrast, most other 3d printers sales are about selling the hardware, but the software is all free and open source, constantly improved by an active community of developers.

Anyway, $400 to $549 for CAD/CNC software from an individual or small business is a bit scary. So, I wrote a comment to Junior on the previous blog (before the pricing post, back when the alarms first went off), asking what his plans were for support and escrow of his software and code. When someone offers to sell me software multiple hundreds of dollars, and they're just an individual, and the software is proprietary, I want to know what the support policy is going to be. I wanted to know what guarantees he had in place, and if he's putting the source in escrow.

Why Escrow and Support are Important

Why is this important? His software is not OSS, and I don't want to get something proprietary and have him jump ship, leaving me holding something that can never be upgraded. This originally came to mind because Junior never answers questions on his blog or on twitter. Communication is strictly one-way. Back when I worked in the IT department of a company in MA, I helped develop a bit of very cool (but small) software we sold to hospitals. Because hospitals are huge multi-million dollar institutions, and we were not, they required the software and its source to be placed in escrow. That meant that if the company I worked for folded or otherwise failed to uphold its end of the escrow contract, the hospital would get the source code, data, and binaries for the application. This is important protection for any company or individual.

In another example: I bought some CNC software and hardware some time ago. Shortly after I bought that, the person/company who sold it went slightly psycho and shut down his support forums. Before that, if someone questioned him, he'd rip them a new one and kick them off his forums. He also tried to make the support forums a for-fee item after the fact. It was…strange. I stayed on his good side, but support by fear isn't exactly my cup of tea. Unfortunately, the hardware was proprietary and the software was also proprietary. That meant that he was the sole source of support if I wanted to stick with his products. I'm still stuck with a hardware/software pairing that can't be broken, and there's been almost no real innovation in the software. Ugh.

In any case, Junior didn't let my first question through on his blog. I was equal parts surprised and disappointed, as the comment was not a troll comment and also wasn't rude, or spammy or anything.

So, I wrote again (at 4/1 5pm eastern time), on the "Thanks for all the emails" post. Here's the exact post (I saved it this time):

Once again, I need to ask about the software.

You are an individual, selling custom proprietary (non OSS) software for a non-trivial price. What's the guarantee that you'll be around and will support your product? Are you putting the software and its source in 3rd party escrow? What's your support policy/plan? Bug fixes? Supported operating systems?

I know blogs are not a democracy, but please post the question this time. This is important stuff.

Thanks.

Pete

Unsurprisingly, that comment was also not posted on the 3d Printer DIY Blog. Comments posted before and after mine showed up in his nightly moderation batches. Both of mine were both posted using Google IDs with a photo -- they wouldn't have tripped a spam filter or anything. Junior also never answered any of my early queries over Twitter.

He could have answered it over email if he didn't want it publicly posted on his blog. Instead, the queries were just ignored. At the time of this writing, his FAQ doesn't address any of these concerns.

I was tempted to go to his new indiegogo campaign and post the question there, as I don't believe he can moderate posts. However, at that point, it would just be a vendetta, as he has clearly proven to me that he is not the kind of person I'm comfortable dealing with. $600 is not nothing. But hey. I see his indiegogo campaign is doing well, and there are lots of people for whom this isn't a concern. I do (seriously) wish him the best of luck with it, and I really do hope he does something to ensure that folks aren't left in the cold.

Contrast

This is in contrast to other products I've seen developed openly on the web. Shapeoko, for example, was developed in the open, had a successful Kickstarter campaign, a wiki with help, a free support forum, and Edward Ford went way above and beyond in answering questions. He was answering questions long before he had actual bits in people's hands.

Here's another one I've dealt with. John at Microcarve was happy to help me out when I bought a Z-axis mount from him. He answered all my questions and delivered above and beyond. He's also quite active in the CNC zone community. He didn't pop out of nowhere: he has a reputation and is trusted. He also has a Yahoo group for support of his products, Q&A etc.

Other more established examples include Chris Walker at Secret Labs (Netduino, Plus and Mini) and Gus Issa at GHI Electronics (Gadgeteer Hydra/Spider/Cerebus + Panda). Both of these guys are active in supporting their communities. Both make real money developing products that are, to various extents, open source software and hardware. Both are people I'm comfortable sending money to.

Lessons Learned

What are the lessons to be learned here?

• If you're selling software, you need to be prepared to support it, and for the questions from people who want a few answers before shelling out. The people asking the hard questions could very well be your best customers and advocates. That's just good business.
• You can make money selling software, but unless you're trying to build a big business out of it, you may find it easier to simply develop it in the open, as OSS. If your whole business is built around selling the software (which is what it appears Junior was working towards all this time - the printer itself is just ancillary), this may not work for you.
• When you see overwhelmingly one-sided comments on a blog, and no one is asking the hard questions, ask yourself if you're really seeing the whole picture.
• Indie campaigns that aren't OSS/OSH just feel old-fashioned.
• Simply being reasonable in your feedback doesn't mean the blog author/business owner will post it or answer it. Blogs aren't a democracy. Ok, I take it back. They are a democracy, and I'm voting with my feet and my wallet.