I’ve been noticing an unsettling trend in the 3D printing world: more and more printer manufacturers are locking down their devices with proprietary firmware, cloud-based software, and other anti-consumer restrictions. Despite this, they still receive glowing reviews, even from tech-savvy communities.
Back in the day, 3D printing was all about open-source hardware, modding, and user control. Now, it feels like we’re heading towards the same path as smartphones and other consumer tech—walled gardens, forced online accounts, and limited third-party compatibility. Some companies even prevent users from using alternative slicers or modifying firmware without jumping through hoops.
My question is: Has 3D printing gone too mainstream? Are newer users simply unaware (or uninterested) in the dangers of locked-down ecosystems? Have we lost the awareness of FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software) and user freedom that once defined this space?
I’d love to hear thoughts from the community. Do you think this is just a phase, or are we stuck on this trajectory? What can we do to push back against enshitification before it’s too late?
(Transparency Note: I wrote this text myself, but since English is not my first language, I used LLM to refine some formulations. The core content and ideas are entirely my own.)
We have become so normalized to anti consumer behavior it doesn’t even matter anymore
Like it used to be that a videogame manufacturer charged for a dlc that was already on the game disc, you had to pay to unlock data that you technically had purchased but not licensed, and people threw a fucking fit. Now it’s like “this new tech device will only work if you insert $20 bills every 30 minutes” and people are like “oh well that sucks but what are you gonna do? I need a toaster that can send me a notification when my toast is done”
Fuck the companies that do anti consumer bullshit, fuck the youtuber dummies that normalize it because they got $50 and a free shitty printer, fuck the government that has completely failed to regulate anything, and fuck the dummies who constantly enable this nonsense because they refuse to spend 10 minutes researching their purchases and instead spend the rest of their life in credit card debt because they have $1100 in monthly subscriptions to stupid bullshit that makes their stuff work for 18 months until the company goes bankrupt, their device is bricked, and they replace it with another piece of shit that has the same anticonsumer bullshit
All these companies lose. Everyone hates them. They are milking their brands of any reputation because they think the world is ending and wants all money. There are compassionate companies with humans that do not do this. They are not hated. You should choose them
It’s just like everything else with technology. As soon as the “normies” start buying into it everything goes to shit. They don’t know what to look for and just buy whatever’s easiest. Once it gets that far the manufacturers can do whatever they want
All the Youtubers Bambu sponsors are like, “I was terrified of 3D printing. Wasn’t that something only nerds do? Then Bambu sent me a free 3D printer and several hundred dollars and I’m telling you guys, you don’t even need a brain to use it!!!”
It’s a three way street though. Lazy consumers are to blame for enabling but bad companies are worse for having anti consumer practices to begin with. And the biggest failure of all is our government for allowing anti consumer behavior to run rampant and not allow any meaningful regulation to go through because they’re utterly corrupted and pro corporation.
In the “normies” defense in a functional society I shouldn’t have to research every purchase I make to ensure it is not hostile against me. However, we live in a dystopia where it is necessary to either manufacture your own foss solution or research for the purchasable option (that is often just the least hostile but still fairly hostile)
Agreed. It shouldn’t be this way but it is and they should act as such. The consumers are the only ones who don’t benefit from being corrupt pieces of shit so I think it’s fair to blame them for enabling it. If they took a stand we wouldn’t be in this mess.