>Think of this pitch as being less like a normal retail product and more like a self-organized kickstarter campaign. You are not paying for the device, you are

>Think of this pitch as being less like a normal retail product and more like a self-organized kickstarter campaign. You are not paying for the device, you are paying for their living expenses and prototyping costs while they spend the months it will take to get the device ready for production. This is why I'm not as infatuated with crowdfunding as everyone else. Because individual customers are supposed to supplant traditional investors, initial costs are much higher for customers because we have to subsidize research, cost-of-living, etc. Moreover, we also incur all of the risk (which is formidable, considering the volume of failed projects and the ubiquity of scams on many crowdfunding sites). I don't understand why I, as a consumer, would prefer a system where all of the cost and all of the risk are precipitated onto me, instead of onto the country's investment apparatus. Better all these guys spend some rich VC's money than spend mine.