This looks pretty neat
Another example of someone hitting the ground running with Kickstarter… looking suspiciously like an established company doing it – which (weirdly) I have no objection to at all… better they get their funding from people than banks etc… although it does seem to be a little contrary to the spirit of the thing – ie: allowing people (yes people) to bypass gate-keepers. If really slick advertising jobs that obviously have money thrown at them become a major factor for the success then it’s kindof defeating the purpose.
Still… neat little gadget. Bet there’s loads it could be used for beyond entertainment.
On Addiction
And The Void Mooned Back...
The Spirit Of The World
A Machine to Steal Souls
More Anti Digital
Thync
Robotic Sensory Loops and Whatnot
Cartestian Robot Roundup.
Post-Scarcity Link-Dump
Servo Bender
Ka-learly NOT a regular person presenting a new grass roots developed idea. No way. I think the design looks and behaves brilliantly and the object deserves to be made but I absolutely hate it when the old (money) guard slide into the new media like wolves in sheep’s clothing.
boo.
The race car footage was the best use of it demo’d I thought.
Well, to be fair – they’re not pretending to be anything other than an established company – their site does say that they’ve been going for 10 years. Other than putting a very human face on it, I don”t there’s any deception here at all – and the human face isn’t an actor I don’t think. I think they’re being as transparent as they possibly can be.
They’re not bootstrapping it though. I think they’re just using this as another income stream – and possibly more accurately, a marketing avenue.
From a wider perspective, the bias that our economic system has in favour of “lenders” is killing our economic systems… and… us. When the Russian economy collapsed, life-expectancy fell by 20 years. This shit is real, and it’s happening because everything is biased in favour of delivering short-term benefits to lenders, who can (and will) withdraw their patronage at the click of a mouse-button.
“On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world,” he said. “Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy… Your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/294ff1f2-0f27-11de-ba10-0000779fd2ac.html#axzz1IsYck6xE
So my take on it is that anything that robs power from banks is a good thing. We need to get rid of these institutions. Separate and nationalise the component parts that are actually useful, and either ban, or leave the rest to hang.
Fully agreed on your point.
But my point of disdain comes from people seeming to be “new” marketers only pretending to be honest-joes-just-sharing-their-passion on the web. Disgusting when faint humility masquerades as working-class when they’re obviously slicker than that.
Reminds me of the Icelandic tourism boards faux travelogue videos on Vimeo where they awkwardly used amateur filming techniques with an actress in order to try to appear naive when their budget was clearly highly funded. It’s painful to watch.
Oh I think we’re all slicker than that aren’t we? We video-capable web-natives?
Where do you draw the line? The glif guys put together a very slick campaign – but although they’re not a business (per se), they are in the business of putting together very slick campaigns. Is that cheating?
This iPhone lens thing is a slick campaign – specifically aimed at a specific (non-slick) market… no doubt about it, but I don’t think they’re pretending to be anything they’re not – apart maybe that they’re doing this for marketing rather than money.
That Iceland video is quite annoying isn’t it. God.
I think that honesty wins the day. And that the slightest shred of BS, even if the end justifies it, is unbearable today.
It’s not ok to lie (unless it’s life or death). And using Kickstarter to gin up interest is sketchy to me because it’s not a genuine expression of sharing. It’s insincere. And that can’t succeed anymore.
I’d have to look into the lens guys you featured here to see what I thought about what they’re doing specifically. I’m just commenting on illegitimacy in general.
I don’t know about not succeeding anymore. It seems to be what’s working to me – the glif guys made a killing, these guys have more than doubled their target… meanwhile a similar product by someone who’s technically adept, but “doesn’t understand his market” ie: didn’t get a cuddly self-deprecating sub-hipster or a cute girl to do the talking, gets about 1/10th of his target http://kck.st/erJMKl
And maybe the Iceland ads worked http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0413/iceland.html If I’d made them I’d certainly be making the link
Obvi I should do more hunting on KS for cool things–that Glyde you found is amazing!
It is maddening how much that is crap and unworthy often gets the most public attention?! It isn’t the best actor that gets the plum roles, etc. I have a classmate who makes awful ballet videos and just informed me that the best dancer in the world is making her next one with her. wtf. I shake my head. I know what she’s doing isn’t at all good and yet she is getting more success than anyone could hope or dream.
Also, I agree that sad sad hipster sad sad can also be an enormous bore. Have you visited Regretsy (Can’t recommended doing so as I find the site really negative (funny as hell–but nasty in a bad way) They will often scathingly rip on sad sad hipster sady McSad.
I have become so tired of sensitive feminine men that when they arrive on my ever present talk radio station I curl my lip in angsty jejuny enui.
Regretsy. Absolutely brilliant. I might have written something about them at some point.