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The change in terminology would seem to imply that Kickstarter is now wising up to the fact that there will inevitably be a high profile failure to deliver in t

The change in terminology would seem to imply that Kickstarter is now wising up to the fact that there will inevitably be a high profile failure to deliver in the near future and is now trying to preempt criticism against Kickstarter not laying out clearly enough the risks involved in backing a project. I welcome this change and think that it will help in the long run.

waterlesscloud 14y ago
There's already been a high profile failure to deliver, and it was a software project. Diaspora. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-p...
- sneak 14y ago
  People are used to big software budgets producing nothing. It's an entirely different value proposition failure when they paid $100 expecting to receive a light bulb or gaming console only to end up empty-handed.
- pbreit 14y ago
  Except that Diaspora is alive and delivered on its project. https://www.joindiaspora.com https://www.joindiaspora.com https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora
  - blutonium 14y ago
    Didn't deliver on destroying Facebook though, which was (generally) what backers (half-heartedly) hoped for. Not saying they didn't succeed, just that there are similar lessons about expectations there.
    - jmathai 14y ago
      Destroying Facebook was never what they promised. They promised an alternative. What they delivered was in line with the amount of funding they received.
- macspoofing 14y ago
  There's a code base that's functional, and available for anyone. The project wasn't a failure. It just didn't take.
  - adgar 14y ago
    > The project wasn't a failure. It just didn't take. A social network with no users isn't a failure! It just didn't take! It's just like when you take antibiotics but they don't do the trick. Definitely worth the 200k in the end!
  - veridies 14y ago
    Not to mention active, ongoing development, including regularly adding new features and a several hundred thousand strong community. It's not a Facebook-killer, but it's a reasonable social network as-is.

waterlesscloud 14y ago

There's already been a high profile failure to deliver, and it was a software project. Diaspora. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-p...

sneak 14y ago
People are used to big software budgets producing nothing. It's an entirely different value proposition failure when they paid $100 expecting to receive a light bulb or gaming console only to end up empty-handed.
pbreit 14y ago
Except that Diaspora is alive and delivered on its project. https://www.joindiaspora.com https://www.joindiaspora.com https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora https://github.com/diaspora/diaspora
- blutonium 14y ago
  Didn't deliver on destroying Facebook though, which was (generally) what backers (half-heartedly) hoped for. Not saying they didn't succeed, just that there are similar lessons about expectations there.
  - jmathai 14y ago
    Destroying Facebook was never what they promised. They promised an alternative. What they delivered was in line with the amount of funding they received.
macspoofing 14y ago
There's a code base that's functional, and available for anyone. The project wasn't a failure. It just didn't take.
- adgar 14y ago
  > The project wasn't a failure. It just didn't take. A social network with no users isn't a failure! It just didn't take! It's just like when you take antibiotics but they don't do the trick. Definitely worth the 200k in the end!
- veridies 14y ago
  Not to mention active, ongoing development, including regularly adding new features and a several hundred thousand strong community. It's not a Facebook-killer, but it's a reasonable social network as-is.