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Comment by erohead | Hacker News Reader

Wow. This is a major move. Pebble (my project) would not be possible now.

You think so? My mind went to your project when I saw the OP. I heard second-hand that you guys were showing off a prototype at Google I/O which consisted of the watch casing with a display connected to external (not yet miniaturized) electronics. This seems to fit Kickstarter's new regulations. Would something like this not have been possible before you got funded?

The reason I felt comfortable backing guys is because you guys had already delivered a product to market. A description or early prototype demonstrating what you were trying to make - almost exactly what I had pictured as my ideal smartwatch before you launched - and my wallet would have been open.

I was thinking the same thing. If you limit rewards to '1' of the product you won't have any $1,000 or $5,000 backers. Hard to get to $1M at $100 a throw.

Backing a project and pre-ordering a product are two different things - and kickstarter doesn't want to get involved in the second part. If you're mature enough to really start accepting preorders with a guarantee of delivery, then put up your product for sale. If you don't yet have a product to sell - that's what kickstarter is for, but then it is not a sale/preorder with a volume discount, but backing of a venture that might deliver something else, or nothing at all - i.e., you get to be an investor, not a customer.

Agreed. It's hard to get your average consumer and investor excited about a product they cannot visualize.

Kuddos on the Pebble project. It's an amazing product, and I can't wait to see you guys release to market. Cheers!

I understand the problem that the Kickstarter founders are facing, but I don't think this is the right (or even close to the correct) solution. Despite saying "kickstarter is not a store" in the title, their rules basically force project creators to physically show exactly what they're planning to deliver...making it even more of a store.

Thanks! Working 24-7 to get these watches out, blogging here: kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android/posts/

Congrats on Pebble so far. Sorry, I can't see what would prohibit the project here? Maybe the language would need to be more restrained, but I doubt that would harm the funding too much.

I think it would be hard to market a product without being able to show prototypes and mockups and whatnot.

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