[Noisebridge-discuss] Letter to MakerBot?

[Elijah Post]

I feel that because MakerBot has a great deal of press, and also is putting
a "TM" symbol after every single time the word 'replicator' appears, that
we at least owe them a letter.

I was about to send something like this, but wanted to see if anyone would
stop me before doing so.

Tl;dr

"Dear MakerBot Industries,


Let me begin my saying that I love MakerBot and the awareness that you
folks spread, and the announcement of your third generation printer is
something for which I congratulate you wholeheartedly.



Let me also say that the methods by which the 3D printing is explained by
MakerBot is equally superb in it's simplicity and terms of the layman's
perspective.



We have had an event called Replicator Wednesday for the last six months.
During Replicator Wednesdays, 3D printer enthusiasts and people interested
in learning how to 3D print all get together for some fun. Awareness is
raised. The hope is that soon we will have the resources so that every
person who shows up can take home a new thing that they themselves printed
and that they themselves be interested in making or buying a 3D printer.



In the south bay, another event also called Replicator Wednesday appeared a
few months ago. They focus on pretty much the same thing. When they used
our name- these folks being people we already knew from the Bay Area RepRap
email list, we saw that it was totally cool, and have since begun a very
loving affiliation with them. In fact now once a month the two Replicator
Wednesdays meet up and do one massive Replicator Wednesday. Lots of things
get made and there are smiles all around.



We’ve been talking a lot since Monday’s announcement of the Makerbot
Replicator. It’s truly a very cool 3D printer- a huge leap from the
Thing-o-Matic, and equipped with all sorts of wonderful features, etc.


*<Start Reading Here>*



I just would like to inquire about the term ‘replicator’. I personally
think that it’s wonderful that this term is being further applied to 3D
printing.



I am hoping that the term ‘replicator’ is shared across all relevant 3D
printers and not just one. An obvious example is RepRap, which stands for
Self Replication/Rapid Prototyping. RepRap, of course, are designs on which
MakerBot’s were based.



Please use the term for the good that it has brought all of us."

What does everyone think?

-- 
*Elijah Louis Spenser Post
Mechanic (San Francisco Bike Kitchen)*
*Participant (NoiseRep at Noisebridge)*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-discuss/attachments/20120110/ec9f6440/attachment-0002.html>