Ok I have never heard of this. Until I ordered this watch. And keep hearing ppl talk about backing this and that. Can someone explain to me. In very easy to understand why I should do this? And good examples of it? Thanks.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Someone explain crowd sourcing?!?
- Thread starter lsutigerfan1976
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Basically a new product/start up gets people to invest in the product they are developing so they can afford to bring it to market
If you've heard of kickstarter or indiegogo then that's crown sourcing
Let's say that to produce something costs $100,000. You don't have that money, but you get a crowd of 10,000 people to each pay $10. You have your $100,000 and those people get a reward of your product
There are numerous successes (pebble v1 wanted $100,000 and got $10,000,000) and lots of failures where they didn't raise enough money, or got the money but then were unable to deliver, in most cases you lose your money when this happens
Let's say that to produce something costs $100,000. You don't have that money, but you get a crowd of 10,000 people to each pay $10. You have your $100,000 and those people get a reward of your product
There are numerous successes (pebble v1 wanted $100,000 and got $10,000,000) and lots of failures where they didn't raise enough money, or got the money but then were unable to deliver, in most cases you lose your money when this happens
Wikipedia is an example of crowdsourcing.
Kickstarter is an example of crowdfunding.
One could easily argue that crowdfunding is a specific kind of crowdsourcing. Rather than "sourcing" information, like Wikipedia, it's sourcing money.
Still, crowdfunding is the more specific, and thus more accurate term.
Thanks everyone for the clarification. I still don't know if I would be willing to shell out money to someone on the condition that if they reach a certain amount than you get "x" item. Seems suspect, but that's me.
If you feel that way, just wait until they start selling the product normally. Most successfull crowdfunded products go on to be sold like normal products. You do end up paying a bit more, though, if you wait.
I will say that the threads about accessories caused me to do some searching through emails and then reach the conclusion that NO kickstarter I've backed has yet delivered a product. One is a few months past launch date (I know this is common) and one hasn't updated since summer of 2014.
It's almost always the case that you won't actually pay until the funding goal is reached; that is, your card will not be charged until the whole funding goal is completed, and the people working on the product will not have your CC info at any point.
Having a team of (usually) inexperienced people trying to deliver an over-promised product in time is the only main concern, although many successful products have been launched this way, such as the Pebble watch.
Interesting. I still would like to hear of some crowd funding products for the watch. Actually I wish we had a sticky for the accessories. So those who found sites with good deals on accessories can post them.
Another attractive benefit is that in many cases, those who donate a certain specific amount of money will get the product before the general public gets them. For instance the new pebble watch coming out. I forget the actual numbers but say the watch costs $250. You could invest early, pay $215 and not only would you get the discount, you would also get your watch a month or so earlier than they go on sale to the general public.
All that said... I've never done it and probably never will. I trust Apple products to buy in a "preorder" manner but not any other company.
All that said... I've never done it and probably never will. I trust Apple products to buy in a "preorder" manner but not any other company.