It doesn't feel shady to me, as long as one remembers you're _buying just that particular product_. I'm really happy to have the chance to support even a major

It doesn't feel shady to me, as long as one remembers you're _buying just that particular product_. I'm really happy to have the chance to support even a major company experimenting if it provides a product more suited to me than they could have done without crowdfunding. The real tension in my eyes is that the most effective kickstarters seem to be ones that get people emotionally involved or attached some way. Joining a "revolution", or playing on nostalgia or a sense of community. It makes an effective kickstarter, but can lead to trouble in cases like Oculus where (even though they didn't and never did), people felt like they owned a small part of Oculus for kickstarting it.