One of my favorite things about Christmas is, aside from the obviously wondrous joy of giving, getting gifts. But it's not just getting gifts I enjoy, it's getting gifts that surprise me. I have no idea what's in the box I'm opening; it could be some new toy, or it could be a pair of socks. There's just something amazing about being able to be genuinely surprised by something.
This is one of the reasons I enjoy KickStarter so much - not the projects surprising you, but the fact that if you support a project high enough that you get one of the rewards, it will suddenly pop up in your mailbox months later, sparking a thought of, "Oh, I remember this! Cool, it's here!" Right now, I've got some bookmarks and stickers from Reading Rainbow on the way, a DVD of an indie movie that I thought looked interesting, and an advance copy of an indie game. In the past, I've gotten tweets from celebrities, and discounted products because I'd gotten to them early. Am I addicted? Well, to quote American Psycho, "that's none of your business, Christie." You, my faithful reader, are Christie.
But the idea behind KickStarter was revolutionary, and it's obviously worked. Before, if you had an idea, you would have to get your friends and family to support you, and with such a limited pool to choose from, it could be tough to find people who were interested in investing. Now, with KickStarter being as popular as it is, all you need to do is post the project online, and people who browse KickStarter will see your project, like it, support it, and tell their friends, "Hey, check out this Christie person on KickStarter, they've got a pretty cool idea." Suddenly, rather than asking 5 people for $1000 each, you've got 1000 people giving you $5 each, and your product already has a bigger audience before it's even been made.
Obviously, KickStarter's got its flaws: the potential for fraud chief among them. Yes, it is very easy to make up a fake project, take people's money, and scamper off with your ill-gotten gains. But very rarely does this actually succeed; KickStarter's obviously thought of this and put measures into place to prevent this, namely their absurdly involved signup process.
Overall, though, KickStarter's more than proven itself as a viable option of funding a project - Veronica Mars and Reading Rainbow are two of the most famous KickStarter successes, not to mention the guy who made the $50,000 potato salad. In a stark contrast to my previous article detailing why the internet is tearing people apart, KickStarter is one of the times that the internet can bring people together in a way that couldn't be done before. No longer must good ideas rely on family and friends - now they can go straight to the consumers. Never has the phrase "vote with your wallets" been more relevant - now consumers really can vote for the products they want to see, and come together as a community to see them actually get made.
Plus you get rewards if you give enough. Isn't that swell, Christie?
This is one of the reasons I enjoy KickStarter so much - not the projects surprising you, but the fact that if you support a project high enough that you get one of the rewards, it will suddenly pop up in your mailbox months later, sparking a thought of, "Oh, I remember this! Cool, it's here!" Right now, I've got some bookmarks and stickers from Reading Rainbow on the way, a DVD of an indie movie that I thought looked interesting, and an advance copy of an indie game. In the past, I've gotten tweets from celebrities, and discounted products because I'd gotten to them early. Am I addicted? Well, to quote American Psycho, "that's none of your business, Christie." You, my faithful reader, are Christie.
But the idea behind KickStarter was revolutionary, and it's obviously worked. Before, if you had an idea, you would have to get your friends and family to support you, and with such a limited pool to choose from, it could be tough to find people who were interested in investing. Now, with KickStarter being as popular as it is, all you need to do is post the project online, and people who browse KickStarter will see your project, like it, support it, and tell their friends, "Hey, check out this Christie person on KickStarter, they've got a pretty cool idea." Suddenly, rather than asking 5 people for $1000 each, you've got 1000 people giving you $5 each, and your product already has a bigger audience before it's even been made.
Obviously, KickStarter's got its flaws: the potential for fraud chief among them. Yes, it is very easy to make up a fake project, take people's money, and scamper off with your ill-gotten gains. But very rarely does this actually succeed; KickStarter's obviously thought of this and put measures into place to prevent this, namely their absurdly involved signup process.
Overall, though, KickStarter's more than proven itself as a viable option of funding a project - Veronica Mars and Reading Rainbow are two of the most famous KickStarter successes, not to mention the guy who made the $50,000 potato salad. In a stark contrast to my previous article detailing why the internet is tearing people apart, KickStarter is one of the times that the internet can bring people together in a way that couldn't be done before. No longer must good ideas rely on family and friends - now they can go straight to the consumers. Never has the phrase "vote with your wallets" been more relevant - now consumers really can vote for the products they want to see, and come together as a community to see them actually get made.
Plus you get rewards if you give enough. Isn't that swell, Christie?
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