4 ms·

Remind HN: One Day Left to Reserve Lockitron for $149

13 points by Jarred 14y ago

isaacwaller 14y ago
I signed up to receive a reminder email but I never got one. Are you guys sure it is working?
- ccamrobertson 14y ago
  Hmm - thanks for the heads up on this. We sent out quite a few reminder emails, but we may have missed some, sorry.
psgibbs 14y ago
I honestly don't get the drive to reserve one of these early. The way I see it, you won't get it for a year and they're making 15K of these. What's the harm in waiting until they launch? Assuming it all works out, they'll have all the production lines tooled up and ready to go, so you can get one much faster a year from now (and with much better understanding of how they work in practice). If it doesn't work out, then what are you missing out on?
- paulgerhardt 14y ago
  We are currently planning to retail Lockitron for $199 in May. Today would be the last day you could reserve one for $149. We don't charge your card until it's ready to ship.
- noonespecial 14y ago
  Because I want to get one first. But mostly because what they did was awesome and I want to support them. If I reserve one, I tell them right now that they have my support. They don't have to wait until release and hope I want what they've built. So instead of sweating "what ifs", they concentrate on making me a great product.
  - psgibbs 14y ago
    I totally get this sentiment for a lot of early project. My point is that at this point in the cycle, they know they have market support and are focusing on making a lot of people a great product, so the incremental sale doesn't necessarily change that dynamic. I didn't realize there would be a price difference (as mentioned by Paul below), which changes the dynamics somewhat – product execution risk + getting it a few months early vs ~$50.
ozi 14y ago
I really don't understand why this is a thing.. Lockitron seems like yet another product that builds on the current fad of "do everything with your phone" without regard to actually being innovative and useful. Aside from narrow use-cases, this seems like it'd be more of a hassle than using a regular key. Want to remotely unlock your property for somebody staying the weekend? That's what a property manager is for. Why would you want to deal with that? Want the convenience of "keyless entry" coming home from the grocery store, or whatever? "Just.. let me.. okay, I unlocked my phone. Now let me load the app. Oops, my WiFi isn't turned on, so let me just do that. Ah, alright.. and now it's finally unlocked." Or what if your wifi/internet goes down? Unless I'm missing something, this is genuinely a lame product. Can anyone explain why this is actually something more than a clumsy me-too gizmo?
- codenerdz 14y ago
  I wouldnt say its a lame product, but it definitely does not cover all remote access use cases. I expressed one in here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4701033 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4701033 A quick google search revealed a number of remotely configurable keypad door locks in approximately the same price range as the retail price of Lockitron. For instance: http://nexiahome.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?model=043156296187 http://nexiahome.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?model=04315...
BinaryAcid 14y ago
"Get off my lawn! What's the pont of that?" 90% of the comments on HN anymore.
kefs 14y ago
How is this post not spam?

13 points by Jarred 14y ago

isaacwaller 14y ago

I signed up to receive a reminder email but I never got one. Are you guys sure it is working?

ccamrobertson 14y ago
Hmm - thanks for the heads up on this. We sent out quite a few reminder emails, but we may have missed some, sorry.

psgibbs 14y ago

I honestly don't get the drive to reserve one of these early. The way I see it, you won't get it for a year and they're making 15K of these. What's the harm in waiting until they launch? Assuming it all works out, they'll have all the production lines tooled up and ready to go, so you can get one much faster a year from now (and with much better understanding of how they work in practice). If it doesn't work out, then what are you missing out on?

paulgerhardt 14y ago
We are currently planning to retail Lockitron for $199 in May. Today would be the last day you could reserve one for $149. We don't charge your card until it's ready to ship.
noonespecial 14y ago
Because I want to get one first. But mostly because what they did was awesome and I want to support them. If I reserve one, I tell them right now that they have my support. They don't have to wait until release and hope I want what they've built. So instead of sweating "what ifs", they concentrate on making me a great product.
- psgibbs 14y ago
  I totally get this sentiment for a lot of early project. My point is that at this point in the cycle, they know they have market support and are focusing on making a lot of people a great product, so the incremental sale doesn't necessarily change that dynamic. I didn't realize there would be a price difference (as mentioned by Paul below), which changes the dynamics somewhat – product execution risk + getting it a few months early vs ~$50.

ozi 14y ago

I really don't understand why this is a thing.. Lockitron seems like yet another product that builds on the current fad of "do everything with your phone" without regard to actually being innovative and useful. Aside from narrow use-cases, this seems like it'd be more of a hassle than using a regular key. Want to remotely unlock your property for somebody staying the weekend? That's what a property manager is for. Why would you want to deal with that? Want the convenience of "keyless entry" coming home from the grocery store, or whatever? "Just.. let me.. okay, I unlocked my phone. Now let me load the app. Oops, my WiFi isn't turned on, so let me just do that. Ah, alright.. and now it's finally unlocked." Or what if your wifi/internet goes down? Unless I'm missing something, this is genuinely a lame product. Can anyone explain why this is actually something more than a clumsy me-too gizmo?

codenerdz 14y ago
I wouldnt say its a lame product, but it definitely does not cover all remote access use cases. I expressed one in here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4701033 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4701033 A quick google search revealed a number of remotely configurable keypad door locks in approximately the same price range as the retail price of Lockitron. For instance: http://nexiahome.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?model=043156296187 http://nexiahome.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?model=04315...

BinaryAcid 14y ago

"Get off my lawn! What's the pont of that?" 90% of the comments on HN anymore.

kefs 14y ago

How is this post not spam?