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Okay, I hate to be that guy, but I can't hold it in. These Kickstarter campaigns for iPhone accessories bother the shit out of me. See the following: > iPhone

Okay, I hate to be that guy, but I can't hold it in. These Kickstarter campaigns for iPhone accessories bother the shit out of me. See the following: > iPhone dock: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hop/elevation-dock-the-best-dock-for-iphone?ref=most-funded http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hop/elevation-dock-the-b... > iPod watch: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-multi-touch-watch-kits?ref=most-funded http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunati... > iPod speaker: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2107726947/hidden-radio-and-bluetooth-speaker?ref=most-funded http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2107726947/hidden-radio-... > iPhone tripod: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jj1/cineskates-camera-sliders?ref=category http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jj1/cineskates-camera-sl... All of these projects have received hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Notice a trend here? iProduct + Kickstarter + Aluminum(optional) = $$$. A formula for successful/massive funding. I probably have a naive view of what Kickstarter is supposed to be, but I envision it as a platform for launching innovative ideas. Sure, you can argue that these products are a few steps ahead of the incumbents, but let's be honest - they are virtually useless. They products don't leave the world in a better place. They aren't pushing any bounds. They aren't amazing. And the crazy thing is that I have never seen any of them in the wild, ever, despite being surrounded by tech savvy people, Apple fanboys, and iOS fanatics. What's up with that? I fear that Kickstarter will become a platform to launch new iPhone accessories. But I guess that's what the world craves.

guynamedloren 15y ago
Oh, and see the most funded projects in the 'design' category: http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/design/most-funded#p1 http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/design/most-f...
CaveTech 15y ago
Obviously the products are desirable and wanted. No, they're not "changing the world", but why do they have to? They're using kickstarter as a portal to get backers to bring their product to life. They make beautiful products people want to own, that wouldn't be produced otherwise.
danilocampos 15y ago
> They products don't leave the world in a better place. Neither did your comment. What makes your use of HN's platform any more valid than their use of Kickstarter's? I'd say you're both entitled to do what you want. The introduction of that lens adds no value, especially because it can take a long time to determine how much people or commerce improve the world – or not.
vecter 15y ago
Kickstarter's purpose, like any other company's purpose, is to serve a market. The market responded by showing large demand for these kind of projects that are being funded. If these are the kind of projects that people crave, how is that Kickstarter's fault? What do you suggest they do about it? Should they exclude these kind of projects? If so, why? Should they shut down the company? If someone credibly promised a crowd-funded cancer cure, I'm sure there'd be even bigger demand for that, but obviously that kind of thing is really hard to crowdsource. I'm also confused: what exactly do you even mean when you say these products are useless? They may be useless to you, but clearly, hundreds of thousands (possibly millions once they reach market) of people are clamoring to get their hands on this stuff.
mmahemoff 15y ago
And YouTube is full of cat videos. They're what people want, they're not doing anyone any harm, and they're building scale to support the 1% of truly meaningful content. In any event, have you seen the state of watches in 2012? Digital watches are basically the same as 20 years ago, and are sufficiently un-useful that most people wear analogue if anything at all. Everyone's carrying around a computer in their pocket/handbag that the watch could piggy-back off, it's time to make use of that. "these products are a few steps ahead of the incumbents" That's how most progress actually happens. The inventors who are immortalised are usually standing on the shoulders of giants and completing the last mile.
noonespecial 15y ago
>Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth. And Android. Smartphone accessories are popular. I'd much rather have mine made by people who care and are pushing the innovation envelope than some crap at WalMart. So Kickstarter. The world a better place? Probably not. My world a better place. Yep.
modeless 15y ago
It's not an iPhone accessory. It's a wrist computer and can work with Android (actually better than iPhone), PC, Mac, Linux, etc. It's clearly a different class of product than a mere watchband.
InclinedPlane 15y ago
So.... basically you're complaining that there's too much interest in accessories for some of the most popular consumer electronics devices in all of human history? Don't be that guy. That "oh, I used to like that band, but then they got popular and sold out" guy. There's nothing wrong with people loving their idevices enough to want to spend even more money on accessories that make them better. And it doesn't take away from the rest of the market, if anything the great attention to kickstarter in general is helpful. Kickstarter is not necessarily about "breaking bounds" or being revolutionary. It's about helping small groups of people and individuals make their dream projects reality. Sometimes those projects are merely mildly evolutionary, that's not a problem, evolutionary is just fine. Merely accelerating the pace of evolution in product design is enormously useful.

guynamedloren 15y ago

Oh, and see the most funded projects in the 'design' category: http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/design/most-funded#p1 http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/design/most-f...

CaveTech 15y ago

Obviously the products are desirable and wanted. No, they're not "changing the world", but why do they have to? They're using kickstarter as a portal to get backers to bring their product to life. They make beautiful products people want to own, that wouldn't be produced otherwise.

danilocampos 15y ago

> They products don't leave the world in a better place. Neither did your comment. What makes your use of HN's platform any more valid than their use of Kickstarter's? I'd say you're both entitled to do what you want. The introduction of that lens adds no value, especially because it can take a long time to determine how much people or commerce improve the world – or not.

vecter 15y ago

Kickstarter's purpose, like any other company's purpose, is to serve a market. The market responded by showing large demand for these kind of projects that are being funded. If these are the kind of projects that people crave, how is that Kickstarter's fault? What do you suggest they do about it? Should they exclude these kind of projects? If so, why? Should they shut down the company? If someone credibly promised a crowd-funded cancer cure, I'm sure there'd be even bigger demand for that, but obviously that kind of thing is really hard to crowdsource. I'm also confused: what exactly do you even mean when you say these products are useless? They may be useless to you, but clearly, hundreds of thousands (possibly millions once they reach market) of people are clamoring to get their hands on this stuff.

mmahemoff 15y ago

And YouTube is full of cat videos. They're what people want, they're not doing anyone any harm, and they're building scale to support the 1% of truly meaningful content. In any event, have you seen the state of watches in 2012? Digital watches are basically the same as 20 years ago, and are sufficiently un-useful that most people wear analogue if anything at all. Everyone's carrying around a computer in their pocket/handbag that the watch could piggy-back off, it's time to make use of that. "these products are a few steps ahead of the incumbents" That's how most progress actually happens. The inventors who are immortalised are usually standing on the shoulders of giants and completing the last mile.

noonespecial 15y ago

>Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth. And Android. Smartphone accessories are popular. I'd much rather have mine made by people who care and are pushing the innovation envelope than some crap at WalMart. So Kickstarter. The world a better place? Probably not. My world a better place. Yep.

modeless 15y ago

It's not an iPhone accessory. It's a wrist computer and can work with Android (actually better than iPhone), PC, Mac, Linux, etc. It's clearly a different class of product than a mere watchband.

InclinedPlane 15y ago

So.... basically you're complaining that there's too much interest in accessories for some of the most popular consumer electronics devices in all of human history? Don't be that guy. That "oh, I used to like that band, but then they got popular and sold out" guy. There's nothing wrong with people loving their idevices enough to want to spend even more money on accessories that make them better. And it doesn't take away from the rest of the market, if anything the great attention to kickstarter in general is helpful. Kickstarter is not necessarily about "breaking bounds" or being revolutionary. It's about helping small groups of people and individuals make their dream projects reality. Sometimes those projects are merely mildly evolutionary, that's not a problem, evolutionary is just fine. Merely accelerating the pace of evolution in product design is enormously useful.