A while ago, a the website Kickstarter (LINK) came onto my radar. What is it? For those that don’t know, here’s a quick primer.
It’s a place where people put their ideas up and a goal to reach some level of funding to make it happen. Web users can then pledge how much or little to any given project. Many projects give physical or virtual goods back at certain levels of pledging.
I think that’s a decent, quick description.
But the site has really taken off lately. Mostly through lots of successful projects. The project that put it on the map was a piece to make a watch out of an iPod Nano (LINK). I read somewhere that this was a project pitched to Apple, and they passed. Their decision was reversed with the success of the project.
I’ve currently pledged to 4 projects.
- Mar. 29: The Cosmonaut – wide grip stylus
- Jul. 19: Trigger Trap – camera trigger
- Jul. 21: Pen Type-A – a unique pen
- Dec. 20: RENDER K – Another unique pen
All projects that I’ve given to are design projects where the end result is bring a designed product to market.
The bad – I have yet to receive a single product. One is supposedly on its way after being very much past deadline, and two are also past deadline with no static ship date.
I’m also a little disappointed about Pen Type-A project. First in that it’s past deadline, but also that it involves manufacturing parts in China. I assume most electronics are made in China, but a low-volume, machined part seems more logical to do in more local settings to the design and audience. I would have liked to know that beforehand in the project details phase. It’s not worth the pledge amounts for a hunk of metal machined in China.
The pen I did just pledge towards specifically mentions fabrication in the US. That was a big factor. It’s also much cheaper. While its features are different, both pens use the same cartridge.
Anyway. There are a ton of other projects that I’ve been really close to hitting the pledge button, but I’m being a little more restrained.
One of these days I’ll give to a non-product project, but none have really jumped out at me. Some I don’t find out about until they were funded. The film Rise and Shine: the Jay DeMerit Story was funded through Kickstarter, and I didn’t know about it until it was in a local film-festival.
Regardless, I’ll blog about each of them as they roll in.
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