Cricut planning to change how it handles uploads soon
3Hi, saw this over on HackADay, and wanted to share it with the community.
Looks like Cricut will start charging you monthly if you want to upload more than 20 designs- you’ll need to be apart of their Cricut Access Plan, which is $9.99 a month.
Cricut Decides To Charge Rent For People To Fully Use The Cutting Machines They Already Own
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Cricut is the new Apple.
People are NOT happy… Silhouette has issued a statement in response:
https://www.silhouetteschoolblog.com/2021/03/silhouette-response-to-cricut-design.html
Here is also her article about the cost effectiveness of switching from Cricut to Silhouette, under the new plan:
https://www.silhouetteschoolblog.com/2021/03/is-it-cost-and-time-effective-to-switch.html
Remember that this lady is not affiliated with silhouette, but she does have a lot more experience with their products.
I, personally, switched from Cricut to Silhouette before the online design software was implemented. I like silhouette, but have no experience with the latest version of Cricut. I will say, I wouldn’t pay 9.99 for the privilege to use my machine!
@mikibell my first memories of cricut were that they only let you use the ($30?) cartridges they sold and when someone developed a way to cut from a PC on their machine (Make the Cut?) they sued the developers.
So I never bought a cricut.
I did buy their heat press because I stumbled across one for less than half price. If they try to charge me a subscription to use it I will just set it on fire and put it on their doorstep.
@djslack yup… Or sure cuts a lot… Some such software! I have had a few cricuts but when they started making everything require an internet commection, I moved over to silhouette. The other reason I moved was cricut would offer “free” designs…but it was for a limited period of time. Silhouette allows you to use any “free” design once it is in your library… I still have my cricut cake, which uses cartridges… But I use the silhouettes much more often.
I can only presume that the “subscription fee” was always planned to be a part of this product, but someone thought it might hurt initial sales and decided to go for a bait-and-switch after the ad campaign ended.
I try to discipline myself never to buy products that use this business model, even if I crave them - it rewards the shady sales tactics and makes them a success worth repeating.
$9.99/month sounds insane for a few uploaded designs.
I’d think $9.99/year might be kinda high, of the top of my head.
I don’t do this sort of hobby/skill. But sheesh!
My sympathies to this who own the Cricut machines.
Wow and they are about to do their IPO and start trading next week. Bad time to lose a ton of customers.
@Ignorant
After they introduced the pool I don’t understand why anyone would ever buy another of their machines
Unless there is an alternative free online repository for the designs and everybody switches to that
@Ignorant I don’t think the timing was an accident. Potential investors may be enticed by constant revenue stream that comes with subscription services, and choose to buy shares for a “service” company, where they wouldn’t invest in a company that just sells useful widgets.
@806D2701 very true.
They are currently bleeding existing subscribers because of this though, I don’t think they were expecting that.
@806D2701 @Ignorant
this topic interested and I went poking around.
Apparently there is already interest in hacking the existing machine catalog to free these devices from the cricut cloud
(these machines can’t currently, as I understand it, export or save or import designs to/from anything but the cricut cloud.)
And I suspect all these supposedly “non-techie crafting moms” won’t be nearly as passive about this issue as the company seems to think.
Crafters, in my experience, tend to know coders and tinkerers.
If this v stupid policy change blows off the IPO, or even the entire company, I won’t be sorry to hear that.
This was a straight corp-asshat policy move.
If anyone want to know more about this company’s ethics, look no further than this nasty policy decision (and the ethically insufficient temp pull-back).
@f00l this isn’t the first evidence of their ethics and mindset. A decade ago they were suing everyone that made alternate software to work with their machines.
@djslack @f00l I remember that!
@f00l some of use crafters are coders and tinkerers
I figure might as well give both halves of my brain headaches!
I’d rather have a Vitamix than a Juicero.
I guess they are listening.
https://inspiration.cricut.com/a-letter-to-the-cricut-community-from-ashish-arora-cricut-ceo/
@Euniceandrich We are really, really sorry we got caught.
Which reminds me, I need to set up my Silhouette.
This is how Wink shot themselves in the foot and slowly bled to death. Do you want to be a Wink, Cricut?
@lisaviolet
This is your kinda topic. You thoughts?
@f00l I have one Silhouette SD. Two Cameo 3s. One Cameo 4 plus.
When I got my first Cameo I checked around and the Cricut needed cartridges to work. I don’t believe it had a design option at the time.
So, I never had a Cricut.
I did recently read that Silhouette is discontinuing the Curio, the machine I use for etching.
That makes me a little sad, it’s a good machine.
@lisaviolet As I understand, they’re still going to support it and supplies will still be available. It’s just the machine they’re discontinuing.
@msklzannie I know. It’s just sad that it’s not popular enough to stay in production.
@lisaviolet I’ve been kinda wanting one. Swing Design is supposed to get 1 more shipment of the machines in and that will be it.
@msklzannie Get one if you can.
@lisaviolet I bit the bullet and ordered one directly from Silhouette America (signed up for free trial of Club Silhouette first). No discount on machines but earned points that I then redeemed for credit. Used that and the supplies discount for the large base bundle and one of the new manual adjust blades that I can use in my 4 without using an adapter. Free shipping on both purchases.
Crazy thing is this machine cost more than my 4 did (got the 4 on sale at Woot). I did check Facebook Marketplace 1st, but the closest anyone had one was near St. Louis. (Maybe I could have had @tinamarie1974 pick it up for me, lol.) If you add in the cost of the large base set, then it cost more than my 3 & 4 combined.
@msklzannie @tinamarie1974 I don’t use mine often, but it’s nice to have.
Etching, great for making reusable stencils…
@lisaviolet @msklzannie @tinamarie1974
This lady has great tutorials for the curio…
https://silhouette-secrets.com/2020/02/18/lets-explore-v4-etching-photos-with-the-curio/?fbclid=IwAR3_v0WLD9Wo03bbVG4HLKlkZ9NgT7EG0vfO8-hx5xolpRrNexaeIPClZkM
@mikibell I’m in her Facebook group.
They changed their mind today. As long as your device is registered by 12/31/21 you keep the unlimited.
Hell hath no fury like a crafter scorned. Beware cricut…your tiny balls WILL be removed by Karen in Cleveland if she can’t add vinyl designs to her Maker.
Silhouette Design Store is throwing shade
@msklzannie That’s funny.
Weird question: Should I spend $250 on a Silhouette Curio or $500 on a 40 watt laser cutter?
No, I don’t really know what I want to do.
@blaineg what materials do you want to cut?
@blaineg What dimensions would the laser cutter be able to cut? The Curio (with the large base) has a max of 8.5 × 12.
@blaineg unless you really want to cut vinyl decals or something else where you need to keep the backing intact, I’d say the laser.
The curio will get you embossing too, but the laser cutter is a frickin’ laser, man…
And if you can keep it from catching fire, you can probably laser cut the vinyl decals too.
@blaineg @djslack I don’t know about with a 40 watt… but my son has cut paper and vinyl on his laser cutter. He uses paper as proof of concept…
@djslack @mikibell The K40 lasers (made by China, Inc.) have a 12x8 work area. You can source them direct from China, or US sellers that have done some QA and setup work on them. They are going to be a bit more of a project than a turnkey system. Kind of like a 3D printer. But as you said, frickin’ lasers!
I haven’t gone beyond the "toying with the idea’ stage, and I’m also thinking about a desktop CNC machine. Mostly what if stuff, rather than having an application in mind.
@djslack @mikibell We use $10,000-ish lasers at work to make product labels, they are in nearly constant use. The label stock is two layer plastic, silver over black, and they both "print’ the labels and kiss-cut the labels on the sheet.
@blaineg @djslack sweet on the lasers and printing!!
We have a desktop cnc machine too… Since the virus, most of the spare space in our house has been dedicated to making masks, so the cnc hasn’t been used much… I want to learn how to use them!! The kid has bought most of them for himself, so it is an ongoing war of who owns what and who can use what
(He is really a good kid… )