MIT 3dp patent expiration and Desktop Factory flop

Has anyone noticed Desktop Factory has gone bust:
[www.desktopfactory.com]

Too bad as I think $5000 was a very reasonable price for a push button
3d printer.

Also has anyone noticed that the MIT 3Dp patent is up for expiration
next year (April 20, 2010):
[www.patentstorm.us]

I think we will see a lot more inkjet binder copies soon.

Right now I can control HP inkjet and Xaar heads easily. Maybe I can sell the kit for $2000 like the Rapman but use inkjet heads. Any interest?

I am subscribed to Desktop Factories mailing list and saw this last week.

I sent a reply back suggesting that if all else fails, why not make the word done
open source and allow others to try and build on their work. I mentioned small
companies like Makerbot that provide added value by providing parts and kits for those
that just want to use the 3D printer, rather than trying to build one from scratch

I actually received a reply from the CEO thanking me for the suggestion.

Others might want to consider making the same suggestion to show that there is interest in
something like this.

Obviously they have both investors and creditors that need to be paid back. Surely their responsibility is to sell the company for as much as possible and refund their investors/creditors.

I don't approve of asking a commerical company to give away things for free. It is much like an annoying street beggar.

It is one thing for a university that uses public government funds or individuals that freely donate their time but quite another when you owe the bank and investors millions of dollars.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2009 03:41PM by fullspeceng.

fullspeceng: Agree, if investors and creditors need to be paid, then that has to be a company's first priority. However, if you look at the software industry, it is becoming more common for them to open source their products once they can no longer make money with them.

I am not saying they HAVE to give away their work.
I was just pointing out the possibility of a different business model
based on open source and community involvement.
I personally would be stunned if that were to actually happen.

First you've got to want their technology.

---

-------------------------------------------------------

Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Thomas A. Edison

Their technology looked very good when I first saw their site about 3 years ago.

I found Desk topfactory several days I think before I found RepRap.

From then to now I would be inclined to say that the RepRap technology is better.

Certainly from the pictures of printed result that we are seeing now. Back 3 years and their technology was far superior.

From watching the Desktop factory site for the last three years or more, Desktop factory it sugests that there has not been the reapeatability/reliability that we see with RepRap. Particularly as a Repstrap is possibly the most common device thus a great variation of construction and design yet the results show how portable Adrians RepRap concept is.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2009 12:28PM by BodgeIt.

---

Bodge It [reprap.org]
=======================================

---

BIQ Sanguinololu SD LCD board	BIQ Stepcon	BIQ Opto Endstop
BIQ Heater Block PCB	BIQ Extruder Peek clamp replacement	BIQ Huxley Seedling
BIQ Sanguinololu mounting	BIQ standalone Sanguinololu or Ramps mounting	Print It Stick It Cut it

My rep strap: [repstrapbertha.blogspot.com]

Buy the bits from B&Q pipestrap [diyrepstrap.blogspot.com]
How to Build a Darwin without any Rep Rap Parts [repstrapdarwin.blogspot.com]
Web Site [www.takeaway3dtech.com]

I think basically that once the makerbot becomes available as a foam shipped object the desktop factory was going to have to halve their prices to compete, and they simply couldn't do that in the forseeable future.

I'm doing a open uni course and i'm looking in to 3D printers, I wanted to know more about Desktop factory and stumbled on to here and i'm dissapointed to find they have gone bust. Can any one tell me of any other projects like reprap fab@home and makerbot and cupcake cnc, i like the idea of making them open source. Also i'm looking for a good site to find there patent details on to put in to my assignment

Desktop Factory didn't go bust, unlike a lot of speculative ventures. They ran out of venture capital, but wound down their operation without outspending what they had available (and returned the deposits they'd attracted). The technology, assets, and key people have been taken up by 3DSystems, who are continuing development and intend to get a mcachine using that technology to market. The former CEO for Desktop Factory is now a sales VP at 3DS and they've recently offered a runout deal on 3DS' former base model at $5K. It was $15K at introduction. Desktop Factory's technology is still viable, but their machine only had a fab envelope of 125mm x 125mm x 125mm.