6 ms·

Seriously, let's be honest, who wants to buy pieces of plastic that are minute improvements over existing products? Their best seller was a multi-jointed power

Seriously, let's be honest, who wants to buy pieces of plastic that are minute improvements over existing products? Their best seller was a multi-jointed power strip. [1] The rest were half baked ideas from inventors that have no desire to scale their business. They were pumping out products that were decided in an echo chamber of inventors, not consumers. It's a great idea, but not enough premarket research was done before shoving it down peoples throats. Edit: the fact that their forth bestseller was a silicone yolk separator doesn't really set the barrier to entry high. A plastic water bottle can do the same.[2] They were flying too close to the mirror, not the Sun. [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/simple-successful-inventions-quirky-ben-kaufman-2012-12 http://www.businessinsider.com/simple-successful-inventions-... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AirVOuTN_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AirVOuTN_M

Stratoscope 11y ago
I have one of those power strips. It's really great! I usually keep it in a simple tight circle. Right now it has a couple of MacBook Pro AC adapters, another AC adapter for a network switch, and a few regular AC plugs. It's super easy to arrange it to fit all kinds of power plugs without them getting in the way of each other.
- andyjsong 11y ago
  That's awesome that you're enjoying it! I'm just saying, they spent a ton of time/money on vetting ideas, R&D, and manufacturing, just to have it knocked off for $5 to $15 [1]. Why did they make such risks by manufacturing before gauging demand? A simple pre-order or crowdfunding campaign where fix batches were pre-sold and repeated until steady orders came in would make sense. [1] http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Universal-Surge-Protector-4-Outlets_2001758433.html?spm=a2700.7724838.30.48.gb7c8x http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Universal-Surge-Pr...
  - Stratoscope 11y ago
    Oh, not disagreeing with anything you are saying - you make some excellent points. I just like the power strip. :-)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

Stratoscope 11y ago

I have one of those power strips. It's really great! I usually keep it in a simple tight circle. Right now it has a couple of MacBook Pro AC adapters, another AC adapter for a network switch, and a few regular AC plugs. It's super easy to arrange it to fit all kinds of power plugs without them getting in the way of each other.

andyjsong 11y ago
That's awesome that you're enjoying it! I'm just saying, they spent a ton of time/money on vetting ideas, R&D, and manufacturing, just to have it knocked off for $5 to $15 [1]. Why did they make such risks by manufacturing before gauging demand? A simple pre-order or crowdfunding campaign where fix batches were pre-sold and repeated until steady orders came in would make sense. [1] http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Universal-Surge-Protector-4-Outlets_2001758433.html?spm=a2700.7724838.30.48.gb7c8x http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Universal-Surge-Pr...
- Stratoscope 11y ago
  Oh, not disagreeing with anything you are saying - you make some excellent points. I just like the power strip. :-)
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]