"Using" Kickstarter to bring in new & old TI'ers?

[Omega-TI]

I was thinking, this Kickstarter.com place is currently 'cool' and 'in vogue' and because of this it gets a fair amount of press coverage. So why not exploit the popularity of the place to attract a little press for the old TI-99/4A?

 

This idea would require the willingness of one of you hardware guys to participate. For example I'll use a hypothetical here:

 

Say 'someone' plans to make a new FDC, RAM disk or whatever. Instead of keeping in on Atari Age with a limited audience, have people order the item through the Kickstarter site. Why?

 

1) For starters the guy making them would not have to pony up all the money up front to get the things made.

 

2) We know the hardware guys here, so we have nothing to worry about.

 

3) This might attract former TI'ers and bring them back into the fold. Many people may not know the TI community if vibrant and growing, this would be another avenue to bring it to the attention of the general public that might not have otherwise known.

 

I see people buying stuff off of eBait all the time, and I'm sure they are not all Atari Age users. Linking the Kickstarter page to a thread on Atari Age I believe would increase our membership.

 

Just an idea...

 

[Shift838]

I think Kickstarter is a good idea. much more exposure. probably get a some more people re-interested in the TI as well.

[Bill Loguidice]

Unfortunately, super niche Kickstarters like this never work. Kickstarter is for offerings with broad appeal. Those without broad appeal fail, period. The only way things like this ever work is by catering to the 25 - 250 (depending upon product and community) active homebrew buyers on places like AtariAge and Facebook. With those kinds of numbers, a Kickstarter could never reach critical mass, particularly since the funding target also needs to account for Kickstarter's cut.

[Omega-TI]

I understand what you're saying Bill. The goal in this scenario would NOT be for hundreds or thousands of units being built, it would simply be used a draw, to find and bring new or former TI'ers. The actual "GOAL" could be set quite low in fact. Actually the number of confirmed "+1's" might even be known here before it's setup at the Kickstarter site.

 

Now how much is Kickstarters 'cut'? I personally would not mind $5.00 of overhead on a $75.00 card as an experiment if there is a chance we could pull in some new or old blood.. possibly even one of the old guard 'greats'.

[+Schmitzi]

yes, a REALLY great idea. would shorten all threads of organizing with money and development a.s.o.

And there would be some money for the developers before. (but also some "duty", of course)

But this can be regulated by the date of appearance of the new product, so that no developer comes in problems with time.

 

And, what Bill says, I am in Omegas opinion, the use of the KickStarter.com for TI-parts should not be out to make

trillions of dollars, and to win the world. It just could be a very cool way of organizing new ideas and parts,

and collecting some money for that.

 

If I go through all these threads here on AA, and see this "+1" or "yep, maybe 2 for me" on new parts, being developed,

who and how is this managed, if a new product gets finished. Must be a kind of beast of burden, if ready, to go through

all these threads on the search, how many do I have to manufact, who will pay, how do they pay, did they pay a.s.o.

 

And last but not least, it WILL push the parts and the presence of our b´loved TI-99/4All

 

 

A really GREAT idea

 

thx

Edited May 19, 2015 by schmitzi

[Bill Loguidice]

I understand what you're saying Bill. The goal in this scenario would NOT be for hundreds or thousands of units being built, it would simply be used a draw, to find and bring new or former TI'ers. The actual "GOAL" could be set quite low in fact. Actually the number of confirmed "+1's" might even be known here before it's setup at the Kickstarter site.

 

Now how much is Kickstarters 'cut'? I personally would not mind $5.00 of overhead on a $75.00 card as an experiment if there is a chance we could pull in some new or old blood.. possibly even one of the old guard 'greats'.

 

If your goal is VERY low on Kickstarter, AND you advertised on AtariAge, social media like Facebook, and the key email lists, you'd likely be fine, but that's only because you'd be targeting the same number of people who you would anyway on AtariAge, social media, and the email lists.

 

Keep in mind Kickstarter's fee is 5%, then you have the processing fee from the payment provider, which is 3% + $0.20 per pledge, so all of that has to figured into the final target. Again, there's always a first time for everything, but I've never seen one of these super niche products work on Kickstarter (if an individual is not already into the niche, then Kickstarter doesn't bring them into it). The audience for this type of thing is VERY specific and we already know where the vast majority of interested parties are.

 

To my thinking, the problem is not reaching the intended audience. That's a non-issue. The problem is being able to make a 25 - 250 unit run of something cost effective for that audience to buy it.

 

The other important thing to keep in mind with Kickstarter is that the rules have changed. You actually need some type of working prototype first. For a homebrew concept like this, if you've already built the working prototype, you don't need Kickstarter for production since you're not going to mass produce the thing (again, assuming the total market is about 25 - 250 units for ANYTHING new like this). You can just do a simple pre-order, accept money, then deliver within three months. You don't need Kickstarter's fees to do something like that.

[Joe Stella]

That is an awesome idea. I can't think of an better way to gauge potential interest broadspectrum.

[Omega-TI]

Yeah, I was thinking the tech-types that go that area on Kickstarter.com are the exact type of people we could benefit from here in the TI section of Atari Age. I went through the electronic projects area << HERE >> and found lots of cool things that I did not know about... and some goodies I may even consider. This all got me thinking, WHAT IF someone was searching through all the cool stuff there and saw something for the TI-99/4A and thought, "Holy $**t, I used to have one of those!", or "Hey, my Dad used that machine, you mean people are STILL using it?" I figured that would be good for at least a click or two. Now if there was a link sending them here to the TI section, they could see what is going on here and be totally blown away with the thriving community we have here.

 

Even if it was a failure as a 'project for the masses', we would still probably get some new blood in here. I remember a couple of years back when I first STUMBLED in to the TI area in the Yahoo group, I thought, "Hey this is GREAT". It was then I learned about Tursi's CLASSIC99, and all the other things going on. I played around for a while and then got bit by the TI bug again.

 

Who knows, someone might even write about it in a blog on another site, a newsletter somewhere and generate even more traffic and potential new users for us. Remember how much action Stuart's Internet Browser generated at the time?

 

Opportunity is usually out in the open, not hidden away behind closed doors.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Bill Loguidice]

By all means, venture forth (I'm always up for trying things myself, certainly), but that doesn't mean anything I said isn't spot on.

[+Vorticon]

By all means, venture forth (I'm always up for trying things myself, certainly), but that doesn't mean anything I said isn't spot on.

 

I agree with you. Besides, even if we manage to attract the attention of dormant TIers out there, they will likely either not have the hardware anymore, or just the console and some carts at best, and so it will be required of them to pony up additional funds to get the needed basic platform to accept any new hardware being offered on Kickstarter...

[Omega-TI]

 

..., even if we manage to attract the attention of dormant TIers out there, they will likely either not have the hardware anymore, or just the console and some carts at best, and so it will be required of them to pony up additional funds to get the needed basic platform to accept any new hardware being offered on Kickstarter...

 

I agree Vorticon, the target audience probably does NOT have the requisite hardware, (YET) but I guess I've not done a very good job explaining things, for that I apologize. I'll try again...

 

The main goal is not to generate mass sales, it's to attract new or like you said, "dormant" or former TI'ers and direct them to Atari Age where they can discover things on their own and become members of the community. Not every seed that is planted will germinate, even then it still takes time to grow before bearing fruit. I believe we need to plant OUR seeds IN THE RIGHT FIELDS where they actually have a chance to catch hold. Just waiting for a seed to blow in on the wind usually does not get you much. I prefer a pro-active approach.

 

In just the last year we've attracted some great new members that have already expanded their systems, learned a lot and even started contributing to the community.

 

Selling through that site may raise the cost a few bucks, but it might also make things easier for the creator/manufacturer/seller.

 

In the end, it was just an idea I thought was worth sharing, where it goes, if anywhere, is not up to me.