Meh. I haven't had any major fails with the Kickstarters I've supported, though outside of the Ouya I don't think I've supported any hardware ones.
Some of the hardware ones I thought were the neat and obviously producible (like weird light fixtures/shades) in a short a time frame also either had stupid reward tiers, or, I guess, just weren't interesting to anyone else.
All that said, I don't really get the people who expect stuff in 6 months for hardware-based Kickstarters. Do you have any ideas about the product development lifecycle? Going from prototype to manufacturing can take quite a while, especially if you need to visit factories in China or some such.
When I back something that's more complex than 'I'll draw a picture' or 'I'll sing a song' I assume it might take a couple years, and that's been borne out at least once, though that level of expectation has also allowed me to be pleasantly surprised.
Despite the above, I'm not saying I think these LED lights are on the level - it seems like a very very poor idea to start a new project without finishing the first. But I also don't think they're as impossible to make as everyone is saying, though offhand I'd also think it'd make more sense to control the lamps with Bluetooth than with wifi.
But if I have this right, and they get the bulbs from someone else in bulk and just pop on a really cheap controller/wireless interface, it seems like the price works out, especially if they aren't worrying about making them 'secure.'
As for 'certifications' and such, I really don't expect they'll even get them, let alone know that they might need them or that they exist.
Some of the hardware ones I thought were the neat and obviously producible (like weird light fixtures/shades) in a short a time frame also either had stupid reward tiers, or, I guess, just weren't interesting to anyone else.
All that said, I don't really get the people who expect stuff in 6 months for hardware-based Kickstarters. Do you have any ideas about the product development lifecycle? Going from prototype to manufacturing can take quite a while, especially if you need to visit factories in China or some such.
When I back something that's more complex than 'I'll draw a picture' or 'I'll sing a song' I assume it might take a couple years, and that's been borne out at least once, though that level of expectation has also allowed me to be pleasantly surprised.
Despite the above, I'm not saying I think these LED lights are on the level - it seems like a very very poor idea to start a new project without finishing the first. But I also don't think they're as impossible to make as everyone is saying, though offhand I'd also think it'd make more sense to control the lamps with Bluetooth than with wifi.
But if I have this right, and they get the bulbs from someone else in bulk and just pop on a really cheap controller/wireless interface, it seems like the price works out, especially if they aren't worrying about making them 'secure.'
As for 'certifications' and such, I really don't expect they'll even get them, let alone know that they might need them or that they exist.