This "Smart" Ring Is Another Reason to Never Trust Kickstarter Videos
With $880,998 in funding, well exceeding its $250,000 asking price, Ring was a smart device that was meant to Bluetooth control everything in your life—except that it doesn't. Not by a longshot.
We debunked the thing outright as soon as it showed up on Kickstarter in March, but that didn't stop thousands of backers from signing up for the product and who are now probably regretting that $269 monetary decision. YouTube user Snazzy Labs breaks down every facet of the ring, and why it's such a terrible, terrible waste of money.
For one, this thing is waaaaay overpriced. As I write this, I have a $200 smartwatch slinging Google Now notifications straight to my wrist. A Bluetooth ring shouldn't even be nearly as close in price unless it can also do my taxes. Second, as Snazzy Labs points out, this thing is massive.I mean kids playing Pretty Pretty Princess wouldn't even want anything to do with this chrome monstrosity. This is all multiplied by the fact that the software is equally as bad with Snazzy Labs referring to it as "comically unusable" with a success rate of about five to ten percent.
Comparing the real thing to the Kickstarter video is also a comedic exercise in itself. This thing was really supposed to do it all, and it doesn't even come close.
Kickstarter isn't all bad. In fact, there are many, many, many great ideas that deserve every single cent they raise, but products like this (and others like it) just make it harder for everyone involved. It makes it harder for legitimate products to earn trust, and it jades Kickstarter supporters who may have been burned one too many times to take a risk on some other seemingly lofty pitch.
If anything, this just serves as another warning. Kickstarters are not preorders, and false advertising can run rampant. Crowdfund responsibly. [YouTube via Reddit]
I dunno. If you ask me, that Kickstarter video is of a comically large costume jewelry ring (I seriously laughed out loud when I saw it on a finger the first time) that takes simple tasks and makes them laughably clumsy ordeals. So the video checks out to me. Spelling "TV" in the air instead of just pressing a button is progress? That's a shortcut? To what, killing time until you die?
Even if it worked as advertised, the only thing is advances is the notion that the tech world is full of expensive, backward non-solutions to problems no one has.
Okay, just to play devils advocate here, a million dollars is really not a lot of money when you're designing and producing a piece of hardware like this. It's about as good as it can be for such a small investment.
I don't think that they should have even tried to manufacture anything at this stage, and just used their resources to help them perfect the prototype. Get it to the point where a major player would be interested in making a big cash infusion (or outright acquisition), and then move on to development and manufacturing the right way.
This was either very bad judgement or simply a way to get a lot of things patented so that when Google or Apple or Sony wants to make a smart ring, they have to pony up to these guys.
I'm not supporting any kickstarter campaign until Kickstarter fires their staff members who give out racist tirades online while claiming to represent Kickstarter.
NEVER KICKSTART.
Do you have any money around? Go to a broker, invest on some company you know/like. With time and luck you could get your money back and you'll help support the economy, something that never happens with kickstarter.
"Oh, but sometimes I get the product !" you might say. Well, if I'm a bank and I invest money on someone's company I want my money back plus interests, or, part of the company. With Kickstarter you don't get one or the other. If I give you money to run YOUR business, I don't want a promise; I need some guarantee. In the real world if you ask people for money and you give nothing in return you get either a) your posessions seized or b) a couple of broken legs.
If you need to buy a certain product, make sure that the product is a real product. You shouldn't buy the promise of having the product, unless it's a known company. (If you buy an iPhone from Apple, you are 99% certain that you'll get an iPhone).
Unscrupulous people ruin any chance that kickstarters can be useful.
The same thing happens with ebay; I used to buy a lot of stuff from that site, but these days I get 1) Fake products from people advertising real products 2) People who triple the value of the product with unmentioned shipping costs and 3) shoddy chinese products.
So, I'm not risking my money anymore on the possibility of buying a product. I'd rather have the product on my hand, working, following the regulations even if that means paying more taxes.
Do you have any money around? Go to a broker, invest on some company you know/like. With time and luck you could get your money back and you'll help support the economy, something that never happens with kickstarter.
Except unless you are really rich this is illegal.
I probably would not have as much disdain for the KS process if they didn't try to co-opt terms from actual investing. It somehow brainwashed a lot of people into calling themselves "Investors" and "Backers" rather than "Pre-sale customers".
Kickstarter does pretty darn well for tabletop gaming, and that is a somewhat demanding niche that results in volumes of designed, produced physical goods. I have yet to have one fail outright on me, tho, OMG, delays.
How's it illegal? If you have some money on a mutual fund / pension savings, you are doing this all the time.
Customer: Im only getting a 5 percent success rate
Shitty ring nonsense of a company : Oh thats great!
-__-
I actually avoided their Kickstarter video until now. I think I figured it would flop and never bothered to look into it. After watching the kickstarter video, I can't believe people went for this. I mean, even if this even worked perfectly, why would we even want to text by spelling words out a letter at a time with a finger? Some of the app gestures are too complicated (ie photos) and it would be hard to always get it right. Also, did they really think the masses would be comfortable sending money that way? They also promised a whole ecosystem. That's always a red flag for an unknown company and unreleased product. If you can't sell the product on its own merits out of the gate, you can't expect developers to ever be interested.
At least they shipped a product, but this thing was a dog even if it worked as advertised.
"As I write this, I have a $200 smartwatch slinging Google Now notifications straight to my wrist."
So do I.
It's a Pebble kickstarter edition.
Like anything else in the world, common sense is useful when funding things on Kickstarter. The model isn't fundamentally different from other kinds of investing including stock market investing.
Caveat Emptor.
To me, it looks better than I thought it would turn out to be. That said I thought nothing would have been delivered so it isn't saying much plus even best case scenario with thinner ring, better hardware and an app that works all the time, it still would be pretty terrible LOL :L
I will say maybe some props can be given for at least kind of sort of delivering the thing to backers and what have you, but man. This thing is roooough.
Yeah I agree, it seems like it arrived in a more timely manner than most kickstarter projects. Less than a year is impressive. Hopefully this things sees some revisions & improvements in the 2.0 version, assuming there will be one. Honestly it would be cool though if they garnered some venture funding & reworked this thing with a bunch of R&D & were able to produce a more accurate & sensitive 2.0 & eventually 3.0 version. Though to be honest, what do people (the youtube reviewer) expect from this, this is a beta stage product produced through a Kickstarter, products like iPhone have been in production for how long? Not to mention Apple has been around since the 1970's.
wow how bad did you think it would be? because this thing looks baaad
Agree. I figured this to be an outright scam, with nothing to deliver. In this case, they actually delivered something. Exceeded expectations!
Of course, I didn't put a penny in, so I can have that feeling.
Of course, I didn't put a penny in, so I can have that feeling.
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