Imagine the difference in the community response to these two messages:
- We are blocking third party access to critical printer functions for security
- We are replacing the Bambu plugin/dll access method people currently use for third party applications with a separate piece of software
They mean the same thing in reality, but the first one reads like people’s stuff will break and stop working, while the other one is a nothingburger. Even now with the amount of rageposts around, there still isn’t a clear and user-impact specific set of details about wtf they are doing, it’s only implied that the second one is going to be true.
Hobby communities, particularly the supernerd hobbies like this one, are FILLED with fragile people who don’t handle change well and will fly off the handle and not listen much to any further details. Nailing the initial announcement is key.
The way Bambu announced the firmware changes, you could almost think they WANTED a terrible reaction, you couldn’t have made a worse announcement message if you tried. This isn’t limited to the firmware either, the way they initially communicated about the A1 issues, tape on rolls, shipping delays - all were similarly awful. They are creating a rock-solid reputation as a company with great hardware, great integration, but godawful corporate behaviour. Which means the instant another printer has them beat on the feature-price graph, they’re dropped like a sack of potatoes.
Bambu - please do better at comms. That doesn’t mean hire someone for corporate-speak, people smell that a mile away. It means getting some UX-minded people to really sit and think through the user impacts of changes or problems and apply change-management communication around it, so people focus a bit more on the reality of the change rather than the emotion of change=bad.