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This kind of reeks of vaporware and that's sort of the pitch I guess. Hardware ideas are crowdfuneded all the time that are kind of lofty, but I felt like the c

This kind of reeks of vaporware and that's sort of the pitch I guess. Hardware ideas are crowdfuneded all the time that are kind of lofty, but I felt like the common thinking at this point is that you really should have taken the risks to prove the thing plus show that you could potentially build it at scale before funding. There are so many ways that the funding of this project can go totally sideways (unlike the shoes!). It even feels weird to have everyone's favorite myth walrus promoting something so vapory. He's sort of known for being a stodgy, no nonsense guy in terms of tech. This all seems tone deaf. Maybe the shoe is like tunnel vision VR before we had the oculus. The Ah-ha moment with VR was accelerometers, they at least kickstarted with a paper one you could start to use no matter what! The backpack and axe with whacky cannon fuse might satisfy some Bustin' fans, it leaves me pretty flat. The branding is horror show gawdy too. Promise me a DIY kit where I can play with the terrible shoes idea myself to really help you get there. Jamie! Your audience for a thing like this is builders like you! Sure you can get some MB cash-in with this but if what I'm paying for is future skates, give me some ruddy future skates so at least I can break my neck with you! Get me some brushless DCs with nice aluminum hubs and some 3D printed tread parts. Release with a community edition with STL files to open up the experimentation. Either that or just go get a bank loan like any other person and take some risks on something you believe in. I do see from the outshot why your'd prefer to risk someone else's money. It's all pretty silly. But if you don't buy it, why should we?

Retric 9y ago
“It might work. It might not work. We’ll know soon.” Is IMO a completely reasonable stance. People putting up money are making the bet that it's a good idea, and can either buy an actual product eventually, or if it turns out to be a bad idea nobody is trying to manufacture all those "pre-orders". The benefit is without needing to ramp up production you can just focus on the Research side of R & D.
- stuntkite 9y ago
  I do not agree with you stance on crowd funding in this instance. I also think the rewards are dumb, ugly, lazy and they could be engaging better with the audience that is actually interested in the skates.
  - Retric 9y ago
    IMO, the entire idea of rewards is a poor fit for crowd funding. It confuses funding with buying an actual product that actually exists.
    - stuntkite 9y ago
      I understand that philosophy I think and platforms like Patreon do a great job of fostering community in that way, still people want something for the contribution. Even if it's a private newsletter, stickers, challenge coin, or in this case cannon fuse. I think when making a request like they are making here they are missing a huge opportunity to engage a passionate community of open source hardware hackers, and they could totally do that in a low cost way that protects their primary IP. I think the thing they are offering, maybe is something die hard Hyni-fans are into, but it literally some wire, bandaids, lights, and cannon fuse. It's just weird. If they really don't want to share and engage that community, aside from the software devs, I think they have a really long row to hoe. I would imagine the concern is really neat IP because they have cool dudes working on it, but that locks you right in for a very classic funding model that needs a buttload more than $50k to get off the ground. Again, I feel like the original Occulus kickstarter walked this line fantastically. As an AR/VR Researcher, I wouldn't touch this gizmo that's being presented with a 10ft poll.

Retric 9y ago

“It might work. It might not work. We’ll know soon.” Is IMO a completely reasonable stance. People putting up money are making the bet that it's a good idea, and can either buy an actual product eventually, or if it turns out to be a bad idea nobody is trying to manufacture all those "pre-orders". The benefit is without needing to ramp up production you can just focus on the Research side of R & D.

stuntkite 9y ago
I do not agree with you stance on crowd funding in this instance. I also think the rewards are dumb, ugly, lazy and they could be engaging better with the audience that is actually interested in the skates.
- Retric 9y ago
  IMO, the entire idea of rewards is a poor fit for crowd funding. It confuses funding with buying an actual product that actually exists.
  - stuntkite 9y ago
    I understand that philosophy I think and platforms like Patreon do a great job of fostering community in that way, still people want something for the contribution. Even if it's a private newsletter, stickers, challenge coin, or in this case cannon fuse. I think when making a request like they are making here they are missing a huge opportunity to engage a passionate community of open source hardware hackers, and they could totally do that in a low cost way that protects their primary IP. I think the thing they are offering, maybe is something die hard Hyni-fans are into, but it literally some wire, bandaids, lights, and cannon fuse. It's just weird. If they really don't want to share and engage that community, aside from the software devs, I think they have a really long row to hoe. I would imagine the concern is really neat IP because they have cool dudes working on it, but that locks you right in for a very classic funding model that needs a buttload more than $50k to get off the ground. Again, I feel like the original Occulus kickstarter walked this line fantastically. As an AR/VR Researcher, I wouldn't touch this gizmo that's being presented with a 10ft poll.