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VP Anthony Moschella Shows Off Makerbot's Latest Printers and Materials (Video)

Posted by timothy on from the now-you-can-make-fake-wood-designer-shapes-on-the-3d-printer-at-your-local-makerspace dept.

You may have read a few weeks ago about the new materials that MakerBot has introduced for its 3-D printers; earlier this month, I got a chance to see some of them in person, and have them explained by MakerBot VP of Product Anthony Moschella in a cramped demo closet — please excuse the lighting — at the company's booth at CES. Moschella had some things to say about materials, timelines, and what MakerBot is doing to try to salvage its open-source cred, despite being a very willing part of a corporate conspiracy to sell boxes of Martha Stewart-branded extruder filament — as well as a few unremarkable things that the company's ever-vigilant PR overseer decreed Moschella couldn't answer on the record for reasons like agreements between MakerBot parent Stratasys and their suppliers. The good news for owners of recent MakerBot models: they'll be upgradeable to use the new and interesting materials with a part swap, rather than a whole-machine swap (it takes a "smart extruder" rather than the current, dumber one). And the pretty good news for fans of open source, besides that the current generation of MakerBots are all Linux-based computers themselves, is that MakerBot's open API provides a broad path for 3-D makers to interact with the printers. (The bad news is that there's no move afoot to return the machines' guts to open source hardware, like the early generations of MakerBots, but STL files at least don't care whether you ship them to an FSF-approved printer to be made manifest.)

6 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Cred? by cdrudge · · Score: 2

    and what MakerBot is doing to try to salvage its open-source cred

    Yeah. Good luck with that salvage job.

    1. Re:Cred? by maliqua · · Score: 3, Insightful

      makerbot is more than dead to me, if I ever hear anyone considering buying a 3d printer that's the only advice i give them is "No matter what you do, do not buy a makerbot"

      I hope everyone else here is doing the same they should not be allowed a second chance or any form of forgiveness

  2. Re:It's a golden age for trinkets by halivar · · Score: 2

    "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -- Winston Churchill

  3. Makerbot is dead by The+Eight-Bit+Link · · Score: 2

    and has been dead since 2012. I'm sorry, but when a company claws its way to existence using the maker/open-source movement, then turns around and tells them to fuck off by closing the source, they're dead as far as I'm concerned.

  4. What the ever-living fuck? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    When did you start auto-playing videos, slashdot? And have you stopped beating your wife, yet, also? You stupid fucking dildos.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Embedded fucking videos??? by pete6677 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Embedded fucking videos??? With autoplay??? FUCK YOU Slashdot! My how far you have fallen. News for nerds my ass.