You may have gathered from some of my gadget reviews that I love being on the cutting edge of technology. For me, the best gadget is a great one that no one else has yet. Using such technology, however, often means putting up with the problems inherent in the early versions of a product. That is a price I’m glad to pay. One good way of getting involved early with tech gadgets is Web sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. These sites allow people with ideas to get the funding necessary to make their ideas a reality. The ideas range from small art projects to major music albums to all manner of gadgets. The people pitch their idea on a fundraising page of one of those sites and typically include a video as well. There are usually lots of different levels of money you can choose from to support the product’s development. At the low-end, you can just give some money to help out. Some of the higher levels give you things like special versions of the product or even visits with the developers. I typically just opt for the product itself, which often is cheaper than the product will be when they sell it to the general public. A couple of the gadgets I’ve reviewed over the last year where from projects I supported on Kickstarter:
- ReadySet Solar Kit – A solar panel and battery for recharging phones and gadgets that I reviewed almost a year ago, but still use to recharge my iPhones, iPads, and smartwatches.
- Martian Watch – A smartwatch that works with your smartphone and can alert you to calls, messages, and calendar appointments.
There are a few other gadgets that I’ve participated in the funding of that I’m currently playing with and hope to review in the next month or two:
- StickNFind (Indiegogo) – A quarter-sized, Bluetooth-enabled device that allows your smartphone to find it (and whatever it is attached to).
- SmartThings (Kickstarter) – A hub for communicating with lots of different home automation devices like motion sensors, light switches, and so on.
There are also a bunch of gadgets that I’ve paid to help fund and am currently waiting for:
- KREYOS: The ONLY Smartwatch with Voice & Gesture Control (Indiegogo) – Finishes funding in a few days and estimated to ship November ’13
- Scanadu Scout, the first Medical Tricorder (Indiegogo) – Finished funding July ’13 and estimated to ship March ‘14
- LIFX: The Light Bulb Reinvented (Kickstarter) – Finished funding November ’12 and originally estimated for delivery in March ’13 but now looks like September ’13
- Matterform 3D Scanner (Indiegogo) – Finished funding July ’13 and estimated to ship September ’13
- Goji Smart Lock (Indiegogo) – Just finishing funding and estimated to ship November ’13
- Olive ONE: All-in-One Home Music Player (Indiegogo) – Finished funding April ’13 and originally estimated for delivery in July ’13 but now looks like September ’13
- Ube WiFi Connected Smart Light Dimmer (Kickstarter) – Finished funding April ’13 and originally estimated for delivery in July ’13 but now looks like October ’13
As you can see from the above, there is always some amount of waiting involved from the time the project is funded until they can actually produce the product. And, you can also see that there are inevitably delays and sometimes they can be long. I’ve also seen that there are usually rough edges with the products. For me, however, I’m happy to endure the hassles of waiting and early versions of the products. It is great to be a part of things. One more I’m still deciding on is Canary: The first smart home security device for everyone. Let me know if you see any cool gadgets I should check out and help fund!
