As card-carrying capitalist, I have no issues with people earning an honest living. Fair wages for fair work is how I was brought up. There is no sin or shame from making a profit, that is so long as you’re being transparent about it and I am a willing participant in the transaction.
However, I have a real problem when I see evidence of user monetization as Makerworld has done to the otherwise clean interface of Bambu Studio and Handy. My grievance is that if I paid for a product, you do not have the right to force-feed by eyeballs advertising or trick my clicks into unwanted navigation as is now the case with both Handy and BL Studio.
So there are tons of sites like Thingiverse and Cults that allow for one to voluntarily participate in their economy or just click past it. However, when I see efforts to monetize the visitor directly without their consent, such as what this new Printables store appears to be moving towards, it sends shivers down my spine. Today this is something I can easily click through, but I just had an experience where I had to bypass some payable models that I had no interest in before I could get to the content I wanted.
Think of all the great sites that went the way of monetization where what once lured you into what you thought was free, you now find you’re blocked by a pay wall.
By no means am I saying that this has happened at Printables yet, but therein lies the problem. Drug dealers will always give you the first one for free but eventually when the needle comes out, the experience is painful withdrawal. Hopefully this will not happen with Prusa, who has so far stayed above this sort of low-life exploitation of willing participants, but will it for long?
As the saying goes, “If it’s on the Internet and it’s free… you’re the product!”
BTW: Before the naysayers feel that this is a bridge to far. Consider this, Amazon has engaged in the practice of paid placement of product earlier in search. This is not only distasteful but has caught the attention of the US FTC, especially since many of these are “Amazon Essentials” brand.
So think about it, the Federal Trade Commission acting on behalf of the consumer, unheard of these days. We in the US usually wait for the EU to protect us from big bad tech. So if the FTC feels this is an unacceptable practice why should we endorse “just a few clicks of inconvenience”. How much longer will it be before sites like Printables, Thingiverse and Makerworld will require a paid subscription just to keep your device running? At what point do we as users – who by participating in building in their content without compensation – do we get paid back for our time and upload efforts?
The decision to use Handy, as a Cell Phone application interfacing with networked appliances, is fraught with peril, akin to walking a tightrope over a chasm of cyber vulnerabilities. Anyone foolish enough to scoff at cyber security concerns by choosing Handy, will unwittingly throw open the gates of their network to potential digital marauders. Bambu, shrouds its open-source software in a cloak of secrecy, a red flag signaling possibly malevolent intentions. This obfuscation is a harbinger of danger.
The risks extend beyond mere speculation; there is a trove of online evidence indicating Bambu’s clandestine harvesting of data from connected printers. This insidious practice, done without user consent or awareness, potentially turns these devices into unwitting pawns in a larger, shadowy game of data manipulation and control. Users who align with Handy may, in essence, be inviting a digital Trojan horse into their network, paving the way for hostile takeovers and transforming their devices into zombie bots in a nefarious cyber army.
This alarming scenario should send shivers down the spine of anyone who values their digital security and autonomy. The decision to use Handy is not just a choice, but a gamble with one’s digital sovereignty at stake.
It feels like a win-win transaction. I get massive convenience and occasional rolls of filament, they get some data of me printing Gridfinity boxes and my models pull users to their site (who also get some convenience).
So if the FTC feels this is an unacceptable practice why should we endorse “just a few clicks of inconvenience”. How much longer will it be before sites like Printables, Thingiverse and Makerworld will require a paid subscription just to keep your device running? At what point do we as users – who by participating in building in their content without compensation – do we get paid back for our time and upload efforts?