Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Crowdfunded



I like Tech.  I think that’s not news to anyone paying attention.  So, with that, I tend to read articles that pertain to advances.  Right now I’m paying attention to how painful the Windows 10 upgrade is.  I’ve got it downloaded and am waiting for the “all clear” before I unleash Microsoft’s latest unholy operating system.

In trolling for news, I’ve come across some cool and stupid Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns I thought of posting here.  These crowdfunding sites are meant to allow the little guy to have the big opportunity.  If it’s a good idea, people will help you along your way by funding your project to get your product out to the masses.  Examples of this working include the original Pebble smart-watch (meeting 10,266% of its goal), and the digitization of Reading Rainbow (540% of its goal, but with over 105,000 supporters).  So there are definitely good ideas out there.  Here’s a mix of the good, bad and ugly. 

The Good Idea:
There are a bunch of smart watches that are flooding the market right now, including Apple’s own.  Sure, it’s cool, but not everyone wears a watch.  Also, I would imagine that all of those alerts and buzzes can get very distracting, not to mention the visuals that go along with it.  Enter the OURA Ring.  Yeah, it’s Bluetooth, but it’s got some cool features.  One is that it can monitor your activity during the day, your heartbeat, body temperature, etc., and then also monitor your sleep patterns.  It’ll then let you know when you’ve done enough physical activity to encourage good sleeping situations.  Due to my snoring, I’d guess that I don’t sleep as well as others and this might answer a bunch of questions about that.  Nicest is that the ring comes in very gender neutral colors/shapes that dudes and dudettes would be interested in using.


The Bad Idea:
Walk Wing is an over-the-shoe clip-on which has a set of recessed roller-blade wheels so that you can immediately convert your shoes into roller skates.  The Frankenstein-esque prostheses for your feet come in both white and black and have a lever on the heel which drops the wheels into place so that you can roll to your destination…provided that you have a contiguous flat surface to roll on.  They’ve got to be annoying to wear because the purchase of the attachments includes a backpack to store them in for when you’re not using them…which means you want to take them off ASAP.  The backpack has only enough room for the Walk Wing skates and a tablet computer, and then you’re forced to cart the backpack wherever you’re going.  At that point, if you’re looking for this kind of experience, just buy a pair of rollerblades or equivalent, throw them into a backpack you already own, and presto…same effect, and I just saved you $200 on show attachments which make you walk like the undead.  Now, if only there were a pair of Bluetooth neck plugs that went with them…


The Ugly Idea:
You know those times when you used to talk on the phone to your loved ones to let them know you’re thinking about them?  Those days are long gone.  Enter the Lovlit Candle.  This electric candle, not terribly different in lighting than those found on restaurant tables looking to inspire ambiance without burning the place down, is a WiFi enabled candle that communicates with others its paired to, over the internet.  When you hold your candle, it’ll slowly light both yours and the others in the group.  What?  Yeah, you’ve got to connect all of the subordinate candles via WiFi in the other homes so that they’re all connected and light at the same time.  Why?  I don’t know.  But, you can also use the app from your smart phone or tablet to light them remotely to show the people in your group that you’re thinking of them.  That’s it.  It does nothing else.  People, just pick up the damn phone.


Honorable Mention Idea:

Will someone help this kid (who isn’t likely a kid) buy his “mom” a new pair of Monster nTune Headphones?  He broke her last pair.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/my-mothers-birth-day-gift#/story

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