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Your post was thoughtful and articulate. I thought I'd check the site as though I were considering starting a project there. First I checked the Guidelines: ht

by jebblue 14y ago

Your post was thoughtful and articulate. I thought I'd check the site as though I were considering starting a project there. First I checked the Guidelines: http://www.kickstarter.com/help/guidelines http://www.kickstarter.com/help/guidelines Part of the first Guideline says: "A project will eventually be completed, and something will be produced by it. A project is not open-ended. Starting a business, for example, does not qualify as a project." If I were starting a project it seems clear that the expectation is that I deliver something. I'm not clear if that agrees with your view or not I guess I'm not clear what the expectation of crowdsourcing is. Maybe it's just a buzzword.

jonnathanson 14y ago
"I guess I'm not clear what the expectation of crowdsourcing is." And this is exactly my point. :) I don't think most people are clear -- or at least can't agree -- about their expectations for crowdsourcing, including the users of Kickstarter. The only thing that seems to be clear is that a lot of funders assume that crowdsourcing means crowd-buying. Whereas a lot of project launchers tend to think crowdsourcing means X, Y, Z, what have you. There's a disconnect between these expectations.
saraid216 14y ago
Two things: 1) A project is more clearly defined as something that the creators intend an eventual completion. Or, perhaps better, a project is something that has a hard ship date. A project is not necessarily successful: that is, it may fail to make that ship date. If it fails, it may fail in such a way that it never completes. That is the worst case scenario: your money went into a black hole. 2) There's a difference between crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. Crowdsourcing is a riff off "outsourcing"; it's using "the crowd" to accomplish tasks. Crowdfunding is a specific instance of this, in which the task is "give me money".

by jebblue 14y ago

jonnathanson 14y ago

"I guess I'm not clear what the expectation of crowdsourcing is." And this is exactly my point. :) I don't think most people are clear -- or at least can't agree -- about their expectations for crowdsourcing, including the users of Kickstarter. The only thing that seems to be clear is that a lot of funders assume that crowdsourcing means crowd-buying. Whereas a lot of project launchers tend to think crowdsourcing means X, Y, Z, what have you. There's a disconnect between these expectations.

saraid216 14y ago

Two things: 1) A project is more clearly defined as something that the creators intend an eventual completion. Or, perhaps better, a project is something that has a hard ship date. A project is not necessarily successful: that is, it may fail to make that ship date. If it fails, it may fail in such a way that it never completes. That is the worst case scenario: your money went into a black hole. 2) There's a difference between crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. Crowdsourcing is a riff off "outsourcing"; it's using "the crowd" to accomplish tasks. Crowdfunding is a specific instance of this, in which the task is "give me money".