A few days ago, our Gear Editor, Feroz Khan, saw a Kickstarter Campaign by Sidekick Pro, where the company was looking to fund its new set of bag ideas. Feroz quickly noted that while there are increasingly many campaigns for these bags, nothing is rarely done to perfect them or work on the loopholes. And he is correct. Like social media, Kickstarter is filled with excellent ideas and noise. This is exactly why it needs to change for the better.
The lead image and those within the article are screenshots from Kickstarter.
Genuine Ideas Must Get A Better Place
How do we gauge that? Well, you really can’t, but you can add some parameters. For instance, not too long ago, we saw an idea for a 3D film camera, which is as exciting as it sounds. While this is not exactly a new invention, it certainly would rock the world of many analog photographers who want to try something new. Furthermore, with more young photographers hoping to get a retro-looking photograph, with film effects and even devices that look distinct, a camera like this will go places. However, to get such ideas is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But hey, if you have binoculars, which in this case will be your instance, you may find something worthwhile.
Perhaps the number of Kickstarter campaigns one can create should be limited, or there must be a review board to gatekeep the idea. Or, like how Lego has its own idea box, people can vote for it, and if it reaches a certain number, then the idea gets picked up. One can say that a review board sounds like a gatekeeper, but if you have millions of projects, you also need a group with a discerning eye to distinguish. Furthermore, already established brands, who pose as small companies, should not be allowed on the platform as it is unnecessary. They already rake profits in millions, so why do you need our help?
How Bigger Brands Must Contribute
By that, I mean how brands can buy the patent. For instance, Paul Kohlhausen and his K-Pan camera are proposed to capture 6×14 medium-format negative photos. A camera in the right hands can do wonders. While the demand for niche cameras may not be like that for digital cameras, having such devices once in a few years that challenge the industry is needed. So, if Canon, Nikon, or Sony, with their multimillion-dollar business, can support smaller companies without squashing their dream, then we may finally move past the saturation point. However, everyone wants a bigger share despite knowing how small the camera business is (despite being earning millions). In doing so, they only focus on reports and numbers and repeatedly push the same bland things.
Something Must Be Done About The Fraudsters
We have multiple instances where people have been duped. While people promise to provide their supporters a free device, those promises are often never delivered. As a result, with time, people are losing faith in the platform. Of course, a person refusing to deliver is not something a platform can do about. However, in such cases, they must intervene. For instance, let people sign an agreement with Kickstarter, whereupon when one is unable to deliver, they have to pay back to their customer in a certain period or face jail. For instance, Negative Supply has not given the product to its supporters for the past three years despite a promise of a short-term turnaround period. For such situations, Kickstarters must step in with legalities. It is unfair that a patron suffers because one can fulfill one’s promise.
Kickstarter has the ability to turn things around, as there are patrons of innovations around. Imagine if nobody had supported photography in the olden days; we wouldn’t have reached this point yet. In just 200 years, we went from daguerrotypes to digital cameras, and that is not even a long period. For Kickstarter to serve its purpose, it must implement some of these changes. Or else we will continue down the plateau we have just hit in photography.
