Testing an "Easy" 3D Printer (With a Grandma)

[@thenextlayer]

THANK YOU for watching this video. In response to some of your comments, I want to clarify that this video was more about determining whether or not non-tech-savvy people, or people who have historically not been interested in 3D Printing, can use this printer. While most of my examples were, indeed, females (mom, wife, grandma, kids), I want to be clear that this merely reflects my own life experience, where my own mom / mother-in-law / aunt are always asking me for tech help and are intimidated by 3D printing when I've tried to get them interested in it. This was more about age (and comfortability with technology as a result of having grown up with it or not) than it was about gender. For the purposes of this video, I could have just as easily used a non-tech-savvy dad from the same generation as Leah.. I just thought it would be more fun and relatable, again, based on my own experience of always having to help my own mom and mother-in-law with technology, if I brought in a mom. If this came off as cringey, misogynistic, or anything like that, that wasn't my intent! But I DO think it's a conversation worth having to ask why 97% of my audience, according to KZbin Analytics, is Male, and why more women are not attracted to this hobby. It's something I discussed in my podcast episode with Denise Bertacchi, and generally, I believe that it's important that women be equally represented in STEM, a part of which is engineering and things like 3D printing... so this video also reflected that opinion. Thanks for reading, and thanks for all of your feedback.

[@RichardBronosky]

I offer condolences; that you had to make this statement. When I heard 0:45 I knew that bad faith actors would go for your throat. Keep being awesome. I love you, Brother. ☮❤🌈🧘🏽🕉☸☯

[@YendiCohen]

Love your video, dont listen to hatter.

[@car_tar3882]

Some people have to few real problems to complain about and have a human urge to complain so they do it about a line in a video which they somehow heard as no women knows how to use any machine other than a stove and a washing machine and not our education system until recently did not push stem to women

[@xIsouLcruSHca]

This really brings back memories of the excitement when introduced to 3d printing, I remember I could sit infront of the printer and just watch the magic happen for hours. Love the originality you bring to your videos!

[@ESTedwards]

when I got my first 3-D printer (Creality K1), I got my first print, running with in probably 15 minutes of unboxing the printer, because I was already so deeply song into this hobby, by watching hours upon hours of KZbin videos from fantastic creators like the next layer!

[@thenextlayer]

Thanks!

[@jessicalovesluxedesignerfa3806]

I love the concept behind this - e.g. my 74 year old Mum LOVES the things I print for her, but isn't tech savvy enough to do them herself. HOWEVER, a printer that clogs regularly isn't a practical option.... I've printed a lot on my Vyper so far over the past few months, and it hasn't yet clogged - BUT it's the one thing I dread happening, as despite being savvy with the tech (I'm a 38 year old female), the idea of having to get down and dirty with the practicalities isn't my thing!

[@Jeffmorgan1991]

My mum introduced me to 3d printing and built my first printer with me, a reprap. It's weird to hear constently "even for a mum" over and over again haha

[@thenextlayer]

Wow what a cool mom

[@jackcoats4146]

Both 'expert mode' version and the 'Mom Mode' (point and shoot style) are needed. If Prusa (or other model curators) could do a 'non-walled garden' of tested pre-sliced models in a section of their site, pre-sliced for various printer that could be automatically selected/curated/verified to print correctly 'garden' for that printer.

[@thenextlayer]

Good point

[@seanzhouz3478]

This is going to happen soon.

[@CrudelyMade]

this shoould be watched by all people who design products and instructional materials. to help them understand how people actually interact with their products and materials. and then make the materials better. ;-) I'm a former tech instructor, and I ended up making a lot of my own teaching materials because what was provided was too generic. and I was dealing with technical folks, not even the non technical. if there's an app, they could do SHORT animations of the setup steps. bland graphics, each animation 2-5 seconds max. put spool here. insert into tube. keep pushing until.... and for the product design more lights to show things are happening. she couldn't even tell if the printer had turned on or not. there is SO much to learn from this for the people making any product.

[@cpace123]

I remember many years ago when I setup email for my 98 year old aunt who wanted a computer. I hope when I get older I am still interested in new tech.

[@DonCarlione973]

This reminds me of when DVDs came out and I had purchased a DVD player for my mother. She comes running down the stairs 2 hours later asking how the hell does she rewind the DVD! I was dying!!😂😂😂

[@thenextlayer]

Hahaha

[@henryr484]

I also own the same printer for a week now, and it's also clogging me randomly during projects. I've broken it down multiple times, it's just a pain for a new person like me

[@Audio_Simon]

Shame about the nozzle clog, I've had similar issues with unbranded filaments in general even tangled spools. Mom was very camera friendly!

[@KevinLagan]

i wonder if the silk filament had anything to do with it, i know the ankermake slicer likes to print hot and fast and thats great for PLA+ but not so great for silk filaments

[@SlurmDude]

she seemed awesome, an entire episode of just her when the real version finally comes in would be a great follow up. No son helping, need to see her actually do it, to prove that moms everywhere will have one five years from now!

[@Zeloverevolution]

Great video! My mum loves the idea of 3d printing but all the software and hardware is overwhelming for her. This might be a good way to get her foot in the door.

[@thenextlayer]

Totally! Thanks for the reply

[@Drumaier]

This video and the final conclusion looks to me like a push of the narrative 😂 Any 3d printer will need maintenance and all sorts of fixes regardless of how easy (or not, since we are having clogging already) the first prints come out. Having one button doesn't mean you can hit and print and forget about it, which is wishful thinking to the n degree 😂

[@RichardBronosky]

My brother, loves tech. However, he is not a DIY person. He is more of the Apple and DJI kind of consumer. (I'm more of the Arch Linux [BTW] and FrSky Taranis X9D FPV kind of consumer.) He found out about the Anker 3D printer and asked me if I though the state of the art was ready for him. When he decides to pull the trigger, I will make sure he has remote desktop software and at least 2 USB cameras pointing at his printer so I can help him as if I were in the room. That is where the art is today. Would you agree? ☮❤🌈

[@thenextlayer]

Yep.

[@TheRealSmiTTTen]

She’s amazing! Please bring her back for more videos!

[@thenextlayer]

Hahaha maybe!! The video isn’t performing so well, but maybe!

[@Mestrenada]

Man, what a awesome video! Absolutely loved Leah

[@thenextlayer]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@OriginalSchles]

I want a toaster. I want it to just work - and if it doesn’t work, I want to be able to contact somebody and ask “what am I doing wrong?”. That’s why I’m hoping there will be a good deal on Prusa MK4 on Black Friday. I’ll then sell my Sovol SV-01.

[@thenextlayer]

Personally I don’t understand why someone would pay $1200 for a Prusa in 2023. I prefer the Bambu. But that’s just me.

[@OriginalSchles]

@@thenextlayer fair question. I'd buy the kit Prusa MK4, not the pre-assembled MK4...so that would drop the price to $800. I also do still want to support Prusa's open-source methodology.

[@SangheiliSpecOp]

That thumbnail you made for this video is amazing 😂

[@yukisfamily380]

Ok. This is so interesting! 3D printing should be accessible and easy like this machine!

[@ThePrintHouse]

Really interesting take on the m5c. I was not expecting this but I enjoyed it!!

[@PrintedByJohn]

I had to figurer out how to use a ender 5 pro and I had not prier experience.

[@SlurmDude]

The most important thing: Auto bed leveling? It has to be phenomenal or it will flop. Clogging is a serious issue, i think they spent too much on making it sexy and not enough on making it actually work.

[@the3dhermit]

Dude, your mom is awesome. She should be in all your videos.

[@thenextlayer]

Hehe she's not my mom, but my mom is also awesome, so maybe she'll be in a future one

[@MHoekman]

While i welcome 3d-printers that can be used by "everyone", i just hope that doesn`t mean we`ll lose all the type of machines for the more advanced users

[@bliska8434]

Anker's app is a dark dark future for 3d printing. Closed ecosystem with pre-sliced models (which restricts which filaments you can use), and extremely sketchy security on the software (Anker has a bad history for streaming cameras to the web without user consent). The steps to print with AnkerMake are the same as Bambu, Creality, FLSUN, Anycubic, Sovol etc since the printer still need the same assembly steps as Anker, still have walkthrough steps for first start (or a quick start youtube video), same printing steps and premade slicer profiles (Orca Slicer + Cura profiles can be load and hit print as well depending on the filament). I would argue a Sovol SV06 Plus is as easy to use as the Anker (keeping price and speed comparable) without dealing with the sketchy Anker company drama.

[@KevinLagan]

you can actually download the STL from the app and slice them yourself in whatever slicer you wish to use so its not actually that bad, the pre sliced files are supposed to be there for people to just have quick and easy things to print excellent for people just getting into 3d printing the ease of use is mostly thanks to the simple motion system, bedslingers are just generally easier to deal with for new users plus the fit and finish is pretty amazing all aluminum frame etc,

[@thenextlayer]

Sorry you feel that way. Fortunately there will always be options.

[@crafthappylife]

Great video! I wish it would have been flawless. I am open to this being something everyone has, but at same time then I am less likely to sell some of my products.

[@thenextlayer]

Fair point

[@SlurmDude]

The market for files will go bonkers though.... and the only reason you wouldnt want that is if youre stealing files to sell, which is turbo illegal

[@crafthappylife]

@@SlurmDude Why is your first thought that i would be stealing files? I pay about 90 per month on patreon for commercial licenses. My point is if everyone has a printer and can purchase a file for a few bucks and print it for themselves, less would be purchasing from sellers like myself.

[@Nevio_024]

I think this approach is great! I really hope to see some good machines in the future. But I also hope that there will still be Vorons that need the knowledge to use 😆😆

[@KevinLagan]

i think both printers serve a purpose, vorons for the tinkerers out there and the ankermakes for the people who just want something to work

[@Nevio_024]

@@KevinLagan 💯

[@jjaammster]

It’s just a shame you can’t trust anker products anymore after eufy

[@zoltan3design114]

Yes Bambulab is more what I would recommend than the ankermake

[@marguskevinsunter]

"... as 2D printers ..." It's easier to get Ender 2 to print 10 ABS tourture tests, than to try to get your Epson 2D printer connect to computer to print just one small document

[@Rom3oDelta7]

First, I have to say, even as a guy, this was a bit cringey. (Almost) all of your "don't know how to use tech" people were female. You could have been more sensitive 🙂 Regarding how well this printer lives up to a "click and print" model, I think it misses the mark by a wide margin. It's closer, but still pretty far away. Your Cricut analogy is understandable, but it fails to recognize that this is a far more complex process than cutting vinyl with a blade. Today, 3D printing is an amagamation of many different disciplines: software, electronic hardware, electromechanical hardware, chemistry, thermodynamics, etc. The fact that 3D printing intersects with so many, often disparate, technical and scientific disciplilnes is why I find it so rewarding and fascinating (and frequently frustrating!) It's also why simplifying this process is so hard. Yes, pre-sliced models will help achieve this "touchless" objective, but so many things can happen to cause the print to go wrong that unless the printer diagnoses what happened, why it happened, and determines how to correct it, then this goal will never be achieved. I do think AI will help to accelerate it, but AI is not going to prevent people in humid climates from leaving their printing spools out in the open in betweeen prints. I often see the "walled garden" approach taken by Bamby Lab, for example, in a negative light. But for Bambu to be able to bring professional-level tech to the hobbyist, this was probably necessary. Likewise, Anker is going to have to build an even bigger one if they want to expand the 3D printing market to a whole new set of users. The M5C seems to be a step in the right direction, at least.

[@thenextlayer]

Sorry it felt cringey. I do feel women are underrepresented in this hobby and I do feel we need to figure out why - is it the perception? The products not being tailored to them the way Cricut machines are? The community behavior? The software? I talked about this in my interview with Denise Bertacchi. In any case, this video could have just as easily been a dad of the same age. It was more about seeing if people from a previous generation with less technological savvy, couldn’t figure out the printers then it was about male or female, but I think I was definitely influenced by the fact that my dad is a rarity, and he’s up-to-date on all the latest tech more than I am, and my mom has always been very technophobic, as is my mother-in-law, wife, sister in law, etc. I projected a fair bit of my life experience into the idea for the video but I could’ve just as easily had any male who is technologically less savvy (kids, grandpa). This wasn’t about gender. Sorry if it felt that way.

[@Rom3oDelta7]

@@thenextlayer I never thought this was intentional. It was thoughtful of you to post a response. Thanks.

[@jessicalovesluxedesignerfa3806]

@@thenextlayer That's an incredibly good point, comparing 3D printers to Cricut.... I have a Cricut, and I am naturally surprised (not quite the right word) when I see men who are very into them. Not because they're not a cool tool, or somehow I see them as 'feminine', but because the marketing is SO female-oriented. And, actually, a lot of older women are able to handle Cricut's Design Space software (which is not particularly intuitive at times!) bc the marketing is so well aimed at a female market, including slightly older / less tech-y women. On the flip side, I feel quite isolated in the 3D printing world, as there seem to be so few women... and significantly fewer STL files aimed at women than men (though kudos to the husband who designed a Mooncup holder for his wife - a very useful print!).

[@mab4110]

For my mom a 2d and a 3d printers are equally confusing.

[@alex59292]

I can use 3D printer super easy but 2d's are impossible I hate inkjets

[@thenextlayer]

Fair

[@darenlim1584]

aww... I wanted to see her fix the clog.

[@grumpywiseguy5992]

This is still too complex for non technical people. Outside of the dedicated community, no one cares what a slicer or a hot end is. This process has to be easy enough that you load a model into the machine directly, somehow load filament without having to worry about which way the spool should load and press the print button. No jams, just clean prints. Maybe 5 years from now.

[@shanepearce1629]

you have that wrong voxelabs aries would be better for a new user print over wifi

[@yakirk]

יש לך איזו מדפסת תלת מימד שאתה כבר לא משתמש ואתה יכול להביא לי?

[@thenextlayer]

מידי פעם אני מוכר אותם

[@yakirk]

אני כבר שנה מחפש מדפסת ולא מוצא במחיר נורמלי, אתה יכול אולי להביא לי אחת?

[@glittalogik]

C'mon dude, don't touch the PEI plate with your fingers 😅 You were raised better than that!

[@thenextlayer]

True true

[@workinprogress9483]

i love her! she is so cute!

[@thenextlayer]

I know right?

[@MagnificentUsernameGuy]

"First printer to be able to print through a simple companion app"? "Someone" hasn't heard of Sculpto I see. 😜 Why they didn't sell more printers I'll never understand. They actually have Thingiverse integration in their app(!). You find something on there you like, and just "click print". They've had printers on the market since 2018 I think?

[@mistandyork]

Meh this "review" has sponsored plastered all over it

[@thenextlayer]

It’s not a review. As I said it’s sponsored.

[@Christopher_Gibbons]

Great, so glad I could spend $700 to be a tester for a much better printer that costs half as much.

[@thenextlayer]

Which one?

[@dayworkhard]

nice one

[@thenextlayer]

Thanks

[@wolfiebo2209]

My 3d printer is way less problematic than my 2d printer! 😂

[@nathalielariviere785]

Are you sure you are a guy from 2023 and not from the 60's? I am a mom, over 50, and I have an ender 3, a bambu lab and a Mars 2 Pro. I do not need a printer similar to my kitchen appliance. I need a printer which do the job 😉

[@alex59292]

That's so cool

[@thenextlayer]

That’s awesome! Glad to hear it. Personally, none of the moms (or dads) your age that are in my life are as comfortable with tech as you seem to be.

[@lukaspedersen1078]

hi next layer im 14 and have a great buisness 3d printing

[@firelion98]

Wierd flex but okay

[@lukaspedersen1078]

@@firelion98 im not flexing

[@martinholst1362]

Cool videos but no need to be discriminating. Many ladies do 3D printing. My grandmother could handle 3d printing better than my grandfather.

[@jasondraper5942]

Came here to say the same. It was one thing to use grandma, moving to moms and then wife is unnecessary and insulting.

[@thenextlayer]

Generalizing. But to be fair my own mom is very intimidating by 3D printing and my wife could care less. And when I say “mom” I’m more talking about age (people in our parents generation) than I am gender!

[@martinholst1362]

@@thenextlayer Lost a sub. No way to make that out in the video. It is another thing not to care about 3D printing and to be able to do something.

[@Serial8killer69]

This, I really thought that these millennials sunflowers here would kill you for discrimination, guess very few millennials here fortunately!😂 carry on my friend, watch those “discriminatory remarks or you too will be canceled by the kids here!🤣🤣

[@firelion98]

What are these snow flakes in chat, the fact that your mom can manage a 3d printer does not mean most can. If you are so sensetive just leave this channel

[@jimjacques8167]

No way 😢

[@lloydc5274]

YOu should have kept quiet and let her work this is an invalid test. You shoud have got her to biuld it to. I have freinds who have bought printers and lasers that they just cant use

[@NickPoulos-i7f]

This whole video feels so misogynistic.

[@thenextlayer]

Sorry you feel that way. Personally, my mom and mother in law both always need help with technology. The question mark isn’t about whether or not a woman can figure out the 3D printer, it’s more about whether an outsider from a generation that didn’t grow up with as much technology can manage with it. This video could’ve just as easily been about a dad or a grandpa as it could have a mom… I just thought it would be more fun to have a mom because my own mom, like I said, is always needing tech help!

[@NickPoulos-i7f]

@@thenextlayer you also mention “wife” as being incapable as well. Not one mention of a man not being capable though. As well as basically saying that a vinyl cutter is so easy now that even women can use it. Be better dude.

[@NickPoulos-i7f]

@@thenextlayer ..also “sorry you feel that way” is such a cop out.

[@Thisdudechannel]

Why do you have to say grandma mom and wife? Are they not capable of using tech ? Could have chosen better words. Just say non tech savvy

[@darren990]

bambu it mate lol