The Kickstarter Bonanza - Everything Edition

There's a loophole in kickstarters that says "this project may fail at any time for any reason and you don't have any method of seeking a refund or anything." That's the real pisser. Every kickstarter that bails on its obligations damages the crowdsourcing industry as a whole. Frankly I hope this guy breaks all his fingers and they never heal right again.
Except this isn't a matter of failure. It's out and out fraud. He HAS the books. He's just not sending them out and instead destroying them to make a (stupid) point. He's admitted as much.

EDIT: I'd also like to point out that he still has his TopatoCo store up, so he's still selling merchandise and making money. What a fucking hypocrite.

Video of him burning the books is up on his tumblr.
 
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GasBandit

Staff member
Except this isn't a matter of failure. It's out and out fraud. He HAS the books. He's just not sending them out and instead destroying them to make a (stupid) point. He's admitted as much.

EDIT: I'd also like to point out that he still has his TopatoCo store up, so he's still selling merchandise and making money. What a fucking hypocrite.

Video of him burning the books is up on his tumblr.
I'm not saying he's right, I'm saying there's not much hope of him being taken to task legally for it.
 
I'm not saying he's right, I'm saying there's not much hope of him being taken to task legally for it.
It basically depends on how actionable the contract is between the backer and the creator. What he's doing DOES violate the KS terms of service though.

  • Kickstarter does not offer refunds. A Project Creator is not required to grant a Backer’s request for a refund unless the Project Creator is unable or unwilling to fulfill the reward.
  • Project Creators are required to fulfill all rewards of their successful fundraising campaigns or refund any Backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill.
  • Project Creators may cancel or refund a Backer’s pledge at any time and for any reason, and if they do so, are not required to fulfill the reward.
His only legal actions are to ether fulfill the orders or give them back their money. If he doesn't, he's violating the contract he forged with his backers. That said, it's really going to depend upon if he's made someone angry enough to sue... though it seems like an excellent way for someone to acquire the rights to his creative property (especially since he apparently doesn't want anything to do with it anymore).
 
That's what bothers me the most about all this. He's not just throwing his hands up and saying "fuck y'all" to the fans because he can't deliver. Because he CAN deliver. He HAS the books. Instead of being a total douche nozzle, he could just figure out a way to get those last 127 books sent out. This is a "fuck y'all" attitude towards people that SUPPORTED him and helped make succeed his goal. It's the utmost height of unprofessionalism.
 
That's what bothers me the most about all this. He's not just throwing his hands up and saying "fuck y'all" to the fans because he can't deliver. Because he CAN deliver. He HAS the books. Instead of being a total douche nozzle, he could just figure out a way to get those last 127 books sent out. This is a "fuck y'all" attitude towards people that SUPPORTED him and helped make succeed his goal. It's the utmost height of unprofessionalism.
Are you trying to claim that publicly burning the books that people paid you for and supported you for just because some people sent you a mean email is unprofessional?
 
I just downloaded a bunch of classic reading rainbow for Jet. Wasn't sure if he wouldl ike it but he LOVES it.

Really glad to see this getting funded.

May toss in a bit the next pay day...I'd love to see them funded for a few years.
 
I had no doubt it would get funded, but I'm surprised by the speed of it. It looks like it's going at a current rate of reaching 100% of funding every day. This has got to be on track to breaking some kind of Kickstarter record.

Edit: Apparently is has the distinction of already being on Kickstarter's top funded page, with more than 30 days to go

https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/most-funded?ref=footer
 
Let's hope they start including internationalisation in their stretch goals. Personal opinion, of course, and one many backers probably wouldn't agree with.
 
Let's hope they start including internationalisation in their stretch goals. Personal opinion, of course, and one many backers probably wouldn't agree with.
Right now their goal is to get on as many platforms as they can. Initial goals were to get a website going, finance it's operations, and to continue providing the Apple app. Now they are making plans for android and a way to get it into public libraries for free.
 
This may be of some interest here:



A children's adventure book with a strong girl as a protagonist.

It's quite nice and it's already funded, with stretch goals for everyone.
 
What's the stretch goal?

--Patrick
Stretch goals:
$35 - I will make 4x as much Potato Salad. I know $40 isn't 4x $10, but you guys have earned it.
$75 - Pizza Party!
$100 - I will try two different Potato Salad recipes.
$250 - Better mayonnaise (from the natural foods section)
$300 - Call a chef to get a better recipe
$350 - Make way more potato salad and probably do a third recipe.
 

A $350 ($400 after initial funding) bicycle that requires no maintenance. Or in other words, you ride it until one of the non-serviceable parts break and you throw it out in a few years. Still, seems good for getting around the city and not totally ruining you to replace if it winds up getting stolen.
The only real innovation on this bike is using the rubber belt gear instead of a greased chain. This means it's going to be a bit harder to peddle but at least it won't rust up.
 

A $350 ($400 after initial funding) bicycle that requires no maintenance. Or in other words, you ride it until one of the non-serviceable parts break and you throw it out in a few years. Still, seems good for getting around the city and not totally ruining you to replace if it winds up getting stolen.
I don't like this idea. It's the same idea that corporations looking for profit have been doing with commercialized products: make them cheap and disposable so you almost need to just buy a new one every couple of years.

There are ways to protect your bike better from being stolen. Most bike shops that will give you at least one year of free maintenance if you buy one of their bikes. It sucks when something breaks while you're riding. Lord knows I've been there. But it's no different than something in a car breaking.[DOUBLEPOST=1405435023,1405434475][/DOUBLEPOST]Skimming through this, I have a few thoughts:

-Speaking from personal experience, puncture-resistance tires do not guarantee they won't puncture.
-Most bike shops can give your wheels bolts instead of quick-releases. I have bolts on my wheels.
-Only three gears feels very limiting.
-Really don't like the foot break. Disc or wheel breaks, while requiring more maitenance, have much better stopping power. Not to mention comfort when, say, you're at a stop light and need to adjust your pedals so you can push right off when the light turns green.
-The belt drive is fine and dandy and I'd be curious to try it. At the same time, though, the teeth on the chain rings are still metal so they would wear and tear.

Overall, I get that this is meant to be for recreational riders. I wouldn't call myself a professional rider in the least, but I'm probably a bit more "hardcore" than the average, recreational rider. It's not a bad idea in theory, but any good bike shop can provide just as good bikes to you.
 
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Overall, I get that this is meant to be for recreational riders. I wouldn't call myself a professional rider in the least, but I'm probably a bit more "hardcore" than the average, recreational rider. It's not a bad idea in theory, but any good bike shop can provide just as good bikes to you.
I was pretty sure I wouldn't be in the target audience, but the following confirmed it:

Our internally geared hub can also go thousands of miles with no maintenance, as opposed to traditional derailleurs, which need maintenance every year.
They equate "Thousands of miles" as a distance you travel over multiple years. I've got over 6000 miles on a bike I started riding January before last.
 
I was skeptical at first, worried about excessive cost, but this isn't bad. $15 for 100 balloons for a party is ok. It's about 3x more expensive than regular water balloons. Something that would be fine once in awhile.
Especially if, y'know, you need a LOT of water balloons on short notice.


--Patrick
 
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