Loo.me

I’m a kickstarter junkie. I love buying new and cutting edge stuff, and i like supporting people building cool stuff.  I find items on Kickstarter that are often ahead of their time and i usually sign up to support them.

However, my last three big purchases from Kickstarter all turned out to be disappointments.  Not because of what i received but because of how and when they were delivered.  Let me explain…

Pebble Watch

Why I was interested – a watch that integrates with my smartphone!  All updates come to the watch.  I also liked the Runkeeper integration where i don’t have to look at my phone when on a run.

Why I’m disappointed – I like the watch (my post about it) but i ordered it May 2012 and received it over a year later.  By the time it hit the market, there were better options available – such as the Samsung or Sony watch.  Ordering it on KS didn’t give me the option of exploring the market nor did it give me a watch before it hit the market.  It just locked me into a solution.

Narrative Clip / Memoto

Why I was Interested – I love recording my life.  The thought of something taking photos every 30 seconds sounds awesome. I was super into it.

Why I’m Disappointed – Again, it took FOREVER for this.  I order November 2012 and received it almost 15 months later.  Even worse they kept sending emails about how close they were – even though they weren’t actually close at all.

Veronica Mars Movie

Why I was Interested – I love the show. I was excited there’d be a movie and wanted to support that effort.  They’d give me a digital download that i could watch at home instead of going to the theater.  That alone was worth the price.

What I was Disappointed – The digital download was only available in this crappy Flixster player which couldn’t, unlike every other movie file i own, be played on my television.  Thus, i had to rent the movie anyway, essentially making me double-pay for the film.  Again i was disappointed.

To sum up, i love Kickstarter. I think it’s a great company.  However, my enthusiasm for backing projects has gone way down. I’ll probably do more but will only do it if i don’t need the product in any specific timeframe and only if my desire to support the project outweighs my desire to actually get the product described.