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Kickstarter Electronics

pettitda

Have you supported a Kickstarter campaign?  Would you do it again?  Was the quality of the reward what you expected? 

  • in reply to Gough Lui

    Thank you Gough.

     

    I wonder if there is someone that has really earned something from a kickstarter project.

     

    Enrico

  • I invested a small amount in one that collapsed back in 2013 after lots of excuses and delays. I never got anything.

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fairduino/smartduino-open-system-by-former-arduinos-manufact

     

    I've not invested in any other electronics on Kickstarter but I have provided some for films etc, all of which delivered.

  • in reply to Workshopshed

    Hi Andy,

     

    sorry that you unfortunately met one of the worst kickstarters and scammer in the world of hardware. He is just a - well known - Italian guy (sic) that has also been part of the sued ex-arduino company that tried to scam also Banzi & C. I don't like particularly arduino but sure I dislike this kind of approach. Lived in Turin and near around for years this is a well known situation...

    https://dimitrialbino2.wordpress.com/tag/mulan-albino/

    http://kicksucker2013.blogspot.com/2014/09/be-maker-smartmakers-harold-f-timmis.html

    https://dimitrialbinoscammer.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/my-honest-review-about-dimitri-albino/

    http://www.mathias-wilhelm.de/arduino/reviews/smartmaker/

    https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/1rmbr8/smartduino_the_biggest_fraud_in_kickstarter/

    This last confirm what I wrote above: http://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/kickstarter-incurs-the-wrath-of-arduino-creator/

     

    And many other of the same kind ...

     

    Cheers. Enrico

  • in reply to Gough Lui

    Gough Lui wrote:

     

    The products which are really good will probably not need to go the Kickstarter route anyway, and those that do succeed will always be available after their launch (even if it is, a little more expensive, it will probably be a little more refined as well). So aside from missing out on day #1 "first generation" bleeding edge pains, and a small discount, you're really not missing out on much by not backing a campaign.

    I don't agree with this.  Some products, like FPGA boards, are niche products and won't have mass appeal until the general public discovers the joys of logic design.  There are dozens of good FPGA dev boards out there, but most are too expensive for someone who's not serious about FPGAs so they don't sell in large quantities.  This makes them stay expensive.  Gadget Factory was smart to do a Kickstarter for the DUO: it was the best way to bring in enough cash to pay the NRE (non-recurring engineering costs) and buy the parts and boards for the first several hundred units.  Gadget Factory is a small operation and doesn't have piles of cash lying around to launch products in other ways.

     

    RasPi is an interesting alternative.  The founders mortgaged their houses to raise the cash to by the parts for the first 10,000 units.  If you don't have friends with houses willing to do this, Kickstarter is a good alternative.

     

    One could say that there's no point in doing FPGA boards since their appeal is so much less than media processor boards.  I would say that doesn't make media processor boards "really good products" and FPGA boards "not-good" products.  It just means that the former are "popular" products with mass appeal, whereas the latter are "esoteric" prooducts with limited appeal.  It's like a Hollywood blockbuster movie versus an "indie".  One appeals to the masses, the other to people with more esoteric tastes.

  • in reply to johnbeetem

    Yes, I would definitely recommend avoiding any dealings with Dimitri Albino or Harold Timmis.

     

    If you think of Kickstarter as a shop then I'd recommend not buying anything. I now see it as a way of supporting things I am interested in.

     

    Here's the films I backed https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/danofthedead/dan-of-the-dead-stop-motion-zombie-film and https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ramblingrosa/building-magic-a-documentary-about-mario-the-magic/description definitely in the indie category not Hollywood.

     

     

    I'm currently waiting on a book to be written

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/525883510/japanese-metalwork-technique-by-ford-hallam

     

    Ford's running late but I don't believe he's a scammer, more of a case of he underestimate the work in writing a book. I also think he suffers a bit from being a perfectionist.

  • in reply to Workshopshed

    Andy Clark (Workshopshed) wrote:

     

    If you think of Kickstarter as a shop then I'd recommend not buying anything.

     

    Couldn't agree more with that statement. image

  • David

    I have supported several kickstarters, and been very happy.

    I'm sure there are various people chasing your money, but due diligence usually provides some clues.

     

    I supported Erik for his Digispark (along with the two others following).

    Unlike some of theses others he did have working prototypes and a forum before launching, and despite being over subscribed by 6264 % Erik was in constant communication ... especially after the over subscription meant he had to find some way of both manufacturing for the volumes, plus the distribution  ... and these were customised orders of parts to go with the item.

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/digistump/digispark-the-tiny-arduino-enabled-usb-dev-board/description

     

    Last year I backed a RPi touch screen, and while he finally delivered (with no apologies or explanation why), the communication was poor, and delivery late.

     

     

    As others have said, you have to look at your investment as just that ... there is no guarantee the goods will arrive, but there are good KS out there.

     

     

    Mark

  • in reply to mcb1

    Mark

         Based on things you said and reviewing his forum, I back Erik's latest project. I did not back the $9 dollar computer because they seem just too ingenious about the facts.

    C

  • Thanks for all of the interesting comments.  For sure, the snake-oil merchants and perpetual motion machine inventors are still plying their trades in the internet age.

     

    I recently backed my first kick starter campaign and as I clicked okay I wondered if I would ever see anything out of this project.  Since I backed it, the project has gone up over 300% funded.  However, only time will tell whether this project will ever meet my expectations. 

  • in reply to pettitda

    Hi David,

     

    I suspect on the balance of probabilities you did the right thing, over-funded gives the project creators an excuse to deliver late, if they are overwhelmed with orders (although they actively encourage it with their rewards 'unlocking' offerings!).

     

    Anyway, unrelated, I thought this one was interesting, it is a head-band that records accelerometer measurements. It appears to have less functionality than the Sudden Impact design challenge entries (the Kickstarter project creators mention wireless capability but from the video it doesn't appear present in the prototype), is closed source unlike some of the Sudden Impact entries, and costs an impressive $700 for the model with wireless capability - and of course Kickstarter doesn't guarantee an end product for backers anyway.

    Just goes to show that with a bit of effort it is possible to build very high quality projects based on the rich design challenge material and sometimes save perhaps $600.