Best products from r/shittykickstarters

This just reminds me that the Sony Vaio UX series was way, way before it's time: https://www.amazon.com/Sony-VGN-UX280P-4-5-inch-Laptop-Processor/dp/B000IALP88

Of course, that thing was way more expensive, but even today, it'd crush this thing in performance. I was also interested in tiny mobile PCs that didn't suck and ran "full" windows. I was super excited about netbooks, but those had anemic performance with the original atom line(s), the Surface Pro 2 was a near perfect machine in my eyes (when it came out), but it was bulky and battery life sucked. With the improvement of the Gen 4+ intel mobile chips, the ultraportable form factors got really nice, but manufacturers moved away from the super compact machines (still talking about full windows feature sets here). The new Surface Go is pretty good, but also running low end CPUs. The one differentiator is that the low end CPUs are actually decent these days, but now that there's ultrabooks and 2-in-1s, I feel like the draw of machines in this form factor just simply aren't good enough to live with the compromises - namely display resolution, touch sensitivity, and foldable, compromised-layout keyboards.

Yeah but I already have something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Tupperware-801-Round-Cake-Taker/dp/B00005S6IR

Mine even has a plastic insert with handles on the sides for easy cake removal. Works great.

Advantage of this that I can see is the gripping bits in the side but they seem a bit over the top. Also I'm not seeing a cover and that seems like a thing I would require for any cake transporting needs.

Not a bad idea, but a slightly different use case since the Moto E is definitely larger and doesn't have the hardware media buttons on it. That being said, you can pick up one for like $50 and it makes a great little Wifi smart device, like an Android iPod.

http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Android-Prepaid-Minutes-Tracfone/dp/B00PWEN2ZE/ref=zg_bs_2407748011_15


Edit: Also, very very recently, I believe the LG Optimus 2 was on sale for $20 off-contract on Amazon.

Has anyone read the excerpt available on Amazon? I don't think it's anything special, but I don't know a lot about writing.

I think this is one of the most reasonable Kickstarters I've seen in this subreddit. If the book is good or at least mediocre (the concept looks like it can appeal to at least some people), the author will probably get some fans that would really like the fairly priced rewards. I just think it would've made more sense for him to wait for the e-book to become more popular, and then start a campaign (if necessary) to make printed editions of it.
Edit: Typo

It's just the second gen of their original product. Mostly it's smaller and has bluetooth functionality (which some people care about). And it's only $100-$150 (depending on if you got the early bird), which is cheaper than their current model.

I will not personally be backing this, but am glad it succeeded and love my original Sansaire that I use for at least half of my meals.

Keep in mind though, you will be at the beach with said speaker, so I was also trying to find something that was rugged and could take substantial abuse (not trying to say Logitech is bad, but this is something meant to go with you wherever, but if you had to go with something more expensive then that, the UE Roll wouldn't be a bad choice, seeing it's also durable and has good sound quality.). Also, I don't think you need wheels, it would be more useful, but really, unless you're going alone, I'm sure you and a friend can carry the cooler (No, I'm not muscled, but I can carry my weight). otherwise, your cooler would be the best choice. I think that Hamilton Beach blender is more durable overall, at least for on the go purposes,but hey, let's be real here, if you're the kind of person who needs to have a blender with you to the beach, I think you need to do some evaluation of yourself.

>Air doesn't insulate... It has to be a vacuum for it to be an insulator, not just and old void between the outside and the drink.

What? That's just plain wrong.

Still air is a tremendous insulator. Not as good as vacuum, but it's still pretty darned good.

Pink fibreglass is mostly just a really good way to hold air in place as an insulator. The fiberglass (or the foam, or whatever) just keeps convection from transferring what little heat there is.

These kinds of cups have an air space between the inner and outer wall, and it's just air, not vacuum (plugged by a silicone plug in the bottom of the cup) and it works beautifully.

Sure, but who cares about custom messages on a laptop stand? It's still not going to look good. Something like this laptop stand looks way better and is even cheaper.

1. I feel like you're just grasping at straws with this one
   
   
2. Coffee makers aren't heavy let alone a "single shot" coffee maker
   
   
3. -
   
   
4. He might be over glorifying the fact that he asked friends to help him? It's not uncommon. He's an engineer i'm sure he can get a lot of free help / cheap help / for beer help if he needs it
   
   
5. It brews an entire jug of coffee! not a single shot like this product and looking at the dimensions it isn't much smaller!
   
   6 / 7) I really don't see how this would be impossible. There is plenty of space in this device based on proportions in the videos and dimensions shown. It's just a tiny bit smaller than the one you presented but delivers a single cup not an entire pot.
   
   this Tiny thing can grind enough coffee for an 8 cup french press.
   
   
6. As he said in his video... the plastic parts are 3D printed in his basement. But even then I wouldn't say the design really changes at all throughout either video or the kickstarter campaign

So it's a basic 5000mAh lithium cell from a generic supplier, a 5V 2A out power controller with a small microcontroller that has BTLE, GPS, and WLAN built in attached to a reprogrammable NFC tag with some MMC storage and a Qi pad on the other side? That's totally achievable in that price point. Let's break some stuff down, shall we?

• 5000mAh packs are readily available from a number of outlets, and can be had in pretty thin sizes. With any decently stiff plastic backing (say a molded PC-ABS mix, for instance), it could be wrapped in leather pretty safely, especially with some kind of small metal insert for heat displacement.
  
• All "50% faster than a phone charger" means is 2A at 5V. I have several 3.3V to 5V output boosters capable of outputting 2A or above, and I can buy them individually for around $8-10. Getting them in bulk would reduce that price substantially.
  
• General wireless microcontrollers are cheap as dirt these days. You can get the raw chips for less than a buck buying in bulk, and a simple power routing board isn't much more expensive per-unit if you can put in a thousand or so orders. Firmware's already written and ready to go, too, so dev time is minimal.
  
• BTLE is an incredibly energy-efficient technology for devices implementing it properly. I could definitely see a microcontroller with no screen running for four months on a 5000mAh battery. You know the CMOS battery found on motherboards is only about 220mAH at 3.3V (works out to around 726mWh), right? The RTC attached to those is able to run for around six to ten years given correct conditions. Microcontrollers are a whole other world compared to the computers you're familiar with. For instance, a common power source for Arduino boards (the microcontrollers I have the most experience with) is a standard, blocky 9V battery, which weighs in at a whopping total 4.05Wh. In the right circumstances, you can run an Arduino Uno off one of these standard batteries for at least 38 days. Now, even if you're really cynical and quadruple the power needs of their theoretical specialized microcontroller, the battery they're using at the very least has around four to five times the capacity of a 9V (it depends if their 5000mAh figure is based on the cell voltage of 3-ish volts or if it's based on the power output circuit's voltage of 5, so there's a range there as a specification isn't given. Usually it's the lower number, but I've been surprised before), so in that scenario it'd get a month or so out of the battery. Given the BTLE specification calls for a maximum power draw of 15mA at the peak, regardless of voltage, the numbers I'm offering are pretty pessimistic, but hey, this is a quick rundown on a bullet point in an internet comment, not a lecture on how to get started with microcontrollers, so that's just the basics.
  
• NFC isn't expensive in the slightest to implement, reprogrammable tags are sold in bulk for a million different uses these days and can be had for pennies. Again, firmware on the microcontrollers are already geared up to handle tons of common implementations on the market, so dev time is effectively nil.
  
• Qi charger pads are, again, pennies, and, again, many work out of the box with a number of microcontrollers, no dev time needed.
  
• Cheap leather isn't expensive at all, so while the end product's finish may not be on par with high end dress shoes, there's totally genuine quality leather (genuine in this case being a grade of leather quality, the second lowest, and commonly used in cheap phone cases that cost only slightly above double digits on Amazon and other sites for resellers to move fresh-off-the-boat schlock direct to consumers with no marketing costs)
  
• MMC storage is continuously getting cheaper, and is cheaper than even MicroSDs are, as they have even less in the way of interfacing hardware and are basically just bare NAND storage chips soldered onto a board to be interfaced with directly by a microcontroller which, you guessed it, has the ability to read MMC already built straight into the firmware, so, again, no dev time needed.
  
  A huge additional positive sign: Maximums. Notice that every single tier has a maximum quantity that can be claimed? This means they know exactly how many units they have the capacity to make without being overwhelmed, and thus can avoid the typical problem successful hardware campaigns have of scaling up to meet a demand vastly higher than projected initially.
  
  Just because you personally don't see a use for a product doesn't mean it's instantly shitty and awful. I'll freely admit that comment you linked sounds an awful lot like it's astroturfed, but if that's your problem with the campaign, start with that. If you find their Eastern European names and domain registration with a campaign based in Newark suspect, lead with that. It has flexible funding rather than a set goal, definitely a red flag, so you could touch on that. But don't start with "oh here's a bunch of specifications that I think are impossible" if you're not familiar with how these kinds of things are manufactured. These things aren't tough to make. For shit's sake, produced at volume, third-shift factory workers can make a profit on entire freaking phones for fifteen bucks if they cheap out to the barest Chinesium. A hundred bucks for what effectively is a cheap power bank, phone microcontroller sans GSM circuitry and screen (two of the more expensive parts), and a Qi pad all wrapped in a two buck per-unit IM case with some leather glued on the outside isn't some impossible task. I wouldn't buy one, and I'd definitely be suspect of whatever fly-by-night lithium supplier they'd team up with, as that's one of the first places first-time hardware manufacturers cut corners on cost, but the price they're charging is an absolutely reasonable one. Depending on where they'd source parts, it could very well be pretty overpriced, actually.
  
  EDIT: Grammar, clarifications.

It's $100 because it's 100% made in America. It could be a bag of dog crap and it would sell if it was 100% made in America.

Americans are always willing to pay over the top for mediocre things, if it's made in America. Kind of like how lots of people are loyal Mac fans and insist Macs are the best yet they do not use them for work or school.

'murica logic


Edit: Look at this. http://www.amazon.com/Chillz-Ice-Ball-Maker-Flexible/dp/B00KI7QZ5Y/ Makes four at once, doesn't require you to melt a huge chunk of ice (have fun freezing that huge chunk in the first place) and is only $10.

A typical (small) car battery will have at least 60 Ah of capacity at 12V nominal, meaning the battery has about 720 Watt-hours of capacity. An existing phone charger which is significantly larger than the magic plastic box has 15 Ah of capacity at 3.7 volts, or about 56 watt-hours of capacity (7.8% of the car battery).

Now let’s talk about boost converters, they will need to boost the internal voltage to about 13 volts to charge the car battery. Something like this 5-amp converter would work. Not only does this take up space but it is expensive, higher currents cost even more and will require fans or large heatsinks to prevent them from burning up. This converter states about a 90% efficiency for a 60W output; This will give us an 7.0% charge of the car battery and will take about 50 minutes to do it.

Not to mention most cars require the ignition to be on or in accessory mode to power the cigarette outlets, the ignition may draw upwards of 20 watts while the accessory mode will likely draw 5-10 watts, significantly reducing your battery charge.

Realistically for the size they show it will probably have about half the capacity of the existing charger I linked. Giving us about 30 watt-hours ( 4.2% of car battery) between this and losses in wires and parasitic draw you could expect about 2-3% charge, insignificant if your battery is actually low or dead.

TL;DR : Best case you could get about 7% charge on your car battery after an hour. If you like the idea get something like this instead, or better yet get one of these and a separate phone charger.

Bonus: This picture.

edit: changed picture link for a single picture instead of the massive combination one on the kickstarter.

Ok, at the creator's go-ahead, I'll bite. Let's get this roast going. I hope I'm not too punishing.

• The product name differs between the title and the summary
  
• I'd be afraid to buy stained-wood kitchenware in general, especially handmade. Vegetable oils can cause stain to leech out of wood. There are food-safe stains.
  
• Nothing here really shows that heating food is a good alternative to salts and fats. If I had the choice between a piece of hot, dry toast and cold, buttered toast, I'd choose the latter.
  
• If this thing were to be mass-produced (in wood) the FDA would stomp it out pretty quickly, probably for a number of reasons I don't understand as well as the stain thing.
  
  My suggestions:
  
  
• Consider making a two-chamber design where you can pour warm water in, instead of plugging it in. It's faster, safer, and requires fewer parts.
  
• Have a manufacturable design. Handbuilt wooden boxes are not scalable. You may need to call in a favor, but having a real design drawn up in CAD will pay for itself in the long run.
  
• Talk to a small-run plastics manufacturer. A local one for me is Protolabs. You can get just one or two parts made in a relatively cheap mold, and they'll save the tooling for when you're ready to go full-scale.
  
• Once you've done the above 2 things, start a real campaign with the prototypes and a more realistic funding goal for full production.

I applaud everyone in this sub for how they're responding to this guys continued uploads. We are all well aware that he has some developmental issues and needs actual help.

The book he's written is already available on Amazon, I'm nearly curious enough to buy one.

Edit: Looks like he uploaded his Amazon proof to Facebook, enjoy the read!

The website is not active, but it is registered with the campaign creators name.
But I agree that it looks very much like a resale.

EDIT 1: These Alibaba or these [Amazon gloves called "Shittens Disposable Mitten"] (http://www.amazon.com/Shittens-Disposable-Mitten-shaped-Moist-Wipes/dp/B00F547P6S) look quite similar :D
EDIT 2: User question regarding the Shittens:
>Are these re-usable?
Answer: If you turn them inside out they are perfectly reusable for a second time wipe.


Hahaha...

If you give $10 at kickstarter he will ship it in December.

But the same guy has the same exact calendar on amazon, pre-order to ship in July, for $8.37.

http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Southwest-Butt-Naked-Calendar/dp/0615682901/

Weird.

Here's the back of the calendar. Wow. Quality stuff here, guys!

http://i.imgur.com/zy18GdC.jpg

Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.2 inches

Oh man that's huge. Do I have room on my wall for that.

Clearly from a previous Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1942850467/handy-kee-most-useful-titanium-multi-tool-key

Also available on Amazon -

https://www.amazon.com/Handy-Kee-Titanium-Multitool-Screwdriver/dp/B07DBC24D9/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3BDJHTJ00HSDL&keywords=key+multitool&qid=1556657986&s=gateway&sprefix=ozark+trail%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.com/Keychain-Multi-Tool-100-Titanium-Universal/dp/B072Q9PTFM/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3BDJHTJ00HSDL&keywords=key+multitool&qid=1556658007&s=gateway&sprefix=ozark+trail%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-7

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074GRNLL6/ref=sspa_dk_detail_6?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B074GRNLL6&pd_rd_w=K9h55&pf_rd_p=46cdcfa7-b302-4268-b799-8f7d8cb5008b&pd_rd_wg=6OsXa&pf_rd_r=ZSH5K5505HSXAYSDWNHK&pd_rd_r=f4015e20-6b8a-11e9-9f47-dd789adca390

And Alibaba: https://bjhty.en.alibaba.com/product/60694138970-807044511/Titanium_Carabiner_Bottle_Opener_Multi_Tool_Hex_Wrench_Titanium_EDC.html?spm=a2700.icbuShop.41413.23.78823fb4kBSiyj

​

I have reported it to Kickstarter.

200 freedom bucks for something that Google, Samsung, Apple, and even cheap Chinese manufacturers make already for less money with more features. It seems like a reoccurring theme in IGG earbuds though, tons of money thrown at the product but it either never comes out, or there's plenty of issues.

I read in a thread that he already has a book on amazon, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1495254909/sr=1-1/qid=1404503010/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1404503010&sr=1-1

The same guy has also published a book:
http://www.amazon.com/team-pisces-emissary-adventures-salvation/dp/1495254909/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404503010&sr=1-1