Kickstarter - The Thread.

[Paelos]

It's going to be well over $2M before the end of the day.

[jgsugden]

...Though it makes you wonder why something like this ends up on Kickstarter.  Reading Rainbow isn't exactly a new 'product' and a childhood literacy effort is a strange thing to require crowd funding to make go (should be an extant priority of our educational system). 

Kickstarter funding has a lot of advantages - and the most significant is that you can often avoid giving away equity to fund the project, allowing you to retain control and profits yourself in exchange for some discounted presales.  This is packaged very nicely to show all the free good it will do for kids - but if you read between the lines the majority of schools will be required to pay for this service (as well as any private indiviudals that want it). 

Simply put: They're putting this on Kickstarter because BANK.

[Furiously]

I'd think they could get double if they were a non-profit with tax donation status.

[Paelos]

What's the over/under mark on this? $20M? $25M?

[Hawkbit]

Kicktracker had them at $32m on day one.  I'd wager $20-$25 is just about perfect. 

[MahrinSkel]

...Though it makes you wonder why something like this ends up on Kickstarter.  Reading Rainbow isn't exactly a new 'product' and a childhood literacy effort is a strange thing to require crowd funding to make go (should be an extant priority of our educational system). 

Kickstarter funding has a lot of advantages - and the most significant is that you can often avoid giving away equity to fund the project, allowing you to retain control and profits yourself in exchange for some discounted presales.  This is packaged very nicely to show all the free good it will do for kids - but if you read between the lines the majority of schools will be required to pay for this service (as well as any private indiviudals that want it). 

Simply put: They're putting this on Kickstarter because BANK.

Yeah, but the way they're working it, Kickstarter surplus all goes to giving it away to more classrooms.  They're going to run out of kindergartens to give it to for free at this rate.  Still leaves them DVD's and merchandizing without having to cut in an investor, but it's really hard to see a greed vibe on this.

More like going to Kickstarter lets them keep the money people out of it, not be a strictly commercial operation like ABC Mouse.

--Dave

[Hawkbit]

We backed this KS, so we're getting update emails.  They hit 3 million and their first stretch goal is 5 million.  They claim that 1 million puts the program into 1500 schools and when hitting 5 million that will jump to 7500 schools.  That's roughly 13% of the schools in the US!  I'm guessing those numbers are for one school-year subscription, but that's still pretty damn awesome. 

[Rendakor]

If it's going to be free on the internet, why are schools going to have to pay for it?

[Hawkbit]

Subscription content is paid I believe.  The iPad app is free, but it's like 9.99 for content.

[Stormwaltz]

Not a Kickstart, but a Patreon, and a strange one. Winchell Chung runs a reference website on space science called Atomic Rockets. I constantly referenced it when developing the Mass Effect tech base.

ME's scientific fidelity, admittedly imperfect to serve the needs of fiction, owes much to the work of Winch and Ken Burnside (Ad Astra Games / Attack Vector). The only thanks I was able to formally give them was a shout-out in "deadliest son of a bitch in space" rant.

http://www.patreon.com/nyrath

[schild]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559431060/twilight-struggle-digital-edition

BUY IT ($30 level best value)

[Xuri]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/levelup/sabertron-foam-swords-with-electronic-scoring

I think I want this. And I don't even LARP!

[Lantyssa]

If the roomie wasn't moving out soon I'd go for it.  It's got to be more fun than real exercise.

[HaemishM]

I think George Lucas gon' sue somebody.

[Ingmar]

They don't really look heavy enough to provide much exercise or "real" swordfighting feel, to me.

[MahrinSkel]

They don't really look heavy enough to provide much exercise or "real" swordfighting feel, to me.

Real swords generally aren't as heavy as you'd think (two pounds or so), and a lot of the exercise is from the body movements, not swinging it.

--Dave

[Ingmar]

I'm aware. The stuff we use is 510g (about 1.2 pounds) and from the way these move, they look like they're either lighter, poorly balanced, or both.

[MahrinSkel]

I'm aware. The stuff we use is 510g (about 1.2 pounds) and from the way these move, they look like they're either lighter, poorly balanced, or both.

More likely balance, the battery is at the lowest point, and it probably weighs as much as the entire 'blade'.  I learned the sword with a saber-style weapon, which is both heavier and more balanced towards the point than most swords.  These move more like foil fencing (not quite as bad as epee).  If you're scoring on touches, you want it light and low.

--Dave

[Lantyssa]

Getting up and moving is far more exercise than I get from sitting in front of computers day and night...

[Hawkbit]

5 days to go on the Reading Rainbow KS.  They broke 4 million and Seth MacFarlane has promised to match dollars up to 1 million donated in the final stretch.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/readingrainbow/bring-reading-rainbow-back-for-every-child-everywh

[K9]

Potato Salad Anyone?

[HaemishM]

 

[schild]

More honest than a Double Fine project. He has an actual end goal.

[Johny Cee]

Though it makes you wonder why something like this ends up on Kickstarter.  Reading Rainbow isn't exactly a new 'product' and a childhood literacy effort is a strange thing to require crowd funding to make go (should be an extant priority of our educational system). 

Childhood literacy is an area where there is a shit-ton of competition amongst non-profits (and vanity non-profits!) for the funding, especially compared to something like adult literacy (I was an officer for a adult literacy/education charity for about a decade).  We used to work with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library which gives kids free books from ages 5-10 or something like that.  I also remember that Borders and Barnes & Noble both used to have programs they directly fund-raised for.

Basically, I'd make the argument that childhood literacy is overfunded compared to adult literacy and ESL programs.  That's not even counting the hundreds of millions thrown directly at childhood literacy through normal education channels.

Most celebrity backed childhood literacy stuff has a whiff of vanity charity about it, and I'm not sure at how effective many of these programs are...  they mostly are about encouraging a "love for reading" or whatnot. 

Reading Rainbow may have just not been judged as an effective use of resources considering the numerous other initiatives related to childhood literacy and so wasn't getting any direct public funding through PBS/grantor organizations.

[Stormwaltz]

I'm not endorsing (or linking) it, but Harmony Gold has put up a Kickstarter to make a new Robotech "pilot episode." They want more, and promise less, than the handful of Japanese animation studios who've turned to Kickstarter.

It's not sitting well with a large number of fanchildren, who point out that Harmony Gold has spent the last two decades using their money not to make more Robotech, but to tie up in litigation all attempts to bring the other Macross series to NA.

[Lantyssa]

Does Harmony Gold have anyone left they haven't antagonized?

[Hawkbit]

Potato Salad Anyone?

It's over $4k now. 

I need to make one as ludicrous, but use it to secretly fund myself to hit a dev bootcamp.   

[schild]

I can't wait for him to be too lazy to have the hats made. Or lose money on them - which would be double plus good. His mistake was having real reward tiers.

[Quinton]

I'm curious what exactly the $3 "receive a bite of potato salad" tier is supposed to be.  Are people expecting him to actually ship them something?

[schild]

It's in the faq.

[schild]

Who wants to make a bet about how much the potato salad guy is going to have his life ruined by the success of his kickstarter?

[Trippy]

Ruined? The guy is going to be pocketing a ton a money after this is all said and done.

[schild]

Ruined? The guy is going to be pocketing a ton a money after this is all said and done.

When 1,000 people show up at his house/apt/whatever and ruin the property, and he has no clue how to logistically mail a shitload of hats and shit, I bet he makes off with negative money.

[lamaros]

I don't know why he put real items in there. Dumb.

[Velorath]

Ruined? The guy is going to be pocketing a ton a money after this is all said and done.

When 1,000 people show up at his house/apt/whatever and ruin the property, and he has no clue how to logistically mail a shitload of hats and shit, I bet he makes off with negative money.

Part of the $3000 stretch goal is that he's going to rent a party hall.