Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Click - What's the obsession?
- Thread starter Bobioden
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You can't not be disappointed. If viewed in isolation, usual Kickstarter delays may be acceptable, but you need to look at it in the context of how the campaign was presented to potential backers, a lot of them new to Kickstarter.
First, it was "sold" as a product, with pricing and materials already set:
Click comes in three materials: a durable polymer starting at just $12, anodized aluminum starting at just $20, and stainless steel starting at just $35, each precisely machined to perfectly blend with Apple Watch.
To me, it's more like a pre-order from an online store. How could you tell the difference?
Then what they sought from Kickstarter backers:
We have completed our product design and our engineers have nearly finalized the locking mechanism. What we need now is the capital to produce Click at a large scale. We are already in contact with manufacturers and distributors from around the globe.
The initial cost of production is expensive, so that’s where you come in.
The initial cost of production is expensive, so that’s where you come in.
Emphasis mine. I note that because the Creators sought $30,000. The total pledged amount was $216,436.
Maybe they were in a rush to be "The First Watch Band Adapter for Apple Watch!"
So when did they start work on this? September 2014.
They originally suggested shipping to backers starting "May 24th and beyond!" so two and a half months late is not too bad - if they're shipping right now, but they're targeting September 11-14. So almost three and a half to four months...
In their last (Aug 5) update, they were still waiting for samples.
I don't think some backers are fair nor realistic asking for refunds or in some cases, suggesting fraud/ Sometimes certain projects bring a lot of first-timers to the wonderful world of crowdfunding, and there's probably not enough warnings (maybe they have now? Don't know) before you set up an account and start pledging.
Again, if this were another isolated campaign, they may still be on to a winner, but unfortunately they are being judged by the quickly evolving market and I'm sure the Creators themselves would be disheartened by not only the loss of first mover advantage, but also the tremendous amount of goodwill in the beginning.
The saddest part is not that they're late, or if they'd ship anytime soon. To me the saddest part is SevenSixteen are no longer relevant.
The shame is that people don't understand how Kickstarter works, despite the lengthy explanations.
What makes you say this? Fwiw I PREORDERED from their website and to me that means they missed the ship date. I had nothing to do with Kickstarter. So they missed it By A ton. We got a very slight discount preordering. Not enough to preorder with this delay IMO.You can't not be disappointed. If viewed in isolation, usual Kickstarter delays may be acceptable, but you need to look at it in the context of how the campaign was presented to potential backers, a lot of them new to Kickstarter.
...
The saddest part is not that they're late, or if they'd ship anytime soon. To me the saddest part is SevenSixteen are no longer relevant.
There still aren't any good adaptors out so I'll keep at least one on order. But the onset of good clones of Apple bands certainly does make it matter less.
They are practically irrelevant and will be bit players now when they could've cornered the market had they shipped in June.
I would assume they needed economies of scale which is now much harder to reach.
Happy for them if they do well, even ok, and better prepared should Apple Watch have newer adapter designs etc.
Looks like some good news for backers and pre-orders:
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ch-band-adapter-for-apple-watch/posts/1324144
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ch-band-adapter-for-apple-watch/posts/1324144
I think these aluminium ones look great. Just hope the colour match is up to scratch for the space grey. These certainly look worth the wait though
To be fair, even the lugs on the apple bands are not perfectly flush. My modern buckle ones stick out a little.
I think those look really nice. I'll probably pre-order a set, since no one else seems to be making the adapters in the aluminum finish.
I'm not trying to sound sarcastic, I just genuinely didn't understand the Aug 31 update:
As previously noted, we are on track to begin shipping units out to you starting September 11-14! A large portion (90%+) of the aluminum adapters (both Silver and Space Gray) will be out by the end of September (allowing for time to pick, pack, and mail them as they come in), following closely behind with Stainless Steel as they arrive in to us!
The first sentence matches what you wrote, but then what's "90%+"? I'm completely confused. Do they mean there will be (way) less than 10% of aluminum adapters shipped from Sept 11-14, as the BULK of the orders (not the balance of 100% less initial shipment?) being "out by the end of September"? The Stainless Steel from update sounds like October without spelling it out.
Anyway, I don't even know why I care! If they come good with a quality product, all good (finally) for the backers.
They're also counting actual pre-orders in with the 90%. Backers' stuff will go out first.
Where are you getting that information?
I think they've handled this about the worst way they could have.
The website looks terrible and has the least amount of information that it could.
The updates on the kickstarter page are clear as mud, as seen above, are they shipping on the 11th as stated several times, or are they shipping sometime before the end of September?
Are those really the best pictures of the actual product they could take and post?
It seems to me like the people running this just don't care that much, they're putting the minimal amount of effort into all of it.
I don't think it's lack of caring, more likely they got overwhelmed by the successful backing, and then too many late changes. Remember the polymer adapters? Pretty silent there...
Not many comments on this one, but after all the delays, I would've thought the protrusion of the adapter on the lower right is not acceptable. Maybe it wasn't clicked in properly when they took the shot, maybe it's an optical illusion.
I don't think it's lack of caring, more likely they got overwhelmed by the successful backing, and then too many late changes. Remember the polymer adapters? Pretty silent there...
Not many comments on this one, but after all the delays, I would've thought the protrusion of the adapter on the lower right is not acceptable. Maybe it wasn't clicked in properly when they took the shot, maybe it's an optical illusion.
I actually think this is a good example of minimal effort, is that really the best picture they could take?
Whoever took it didn't take the time to properly align the adapter with the watch body?
The lack of meaningful updates with any real new information is disheartening.
one more thought: I'm not sure how a successful backing could have changed the shipping date estimates, whether you make 10 or 10000 the design and setup for manufacturing is the same
Sometimes choice is a bad thing, which is what they were presented with when the pledges snowballed. If they only had barely enough to fund what they asked for, they would've had to stick with their original plans and ship it.
They moved from polymer to stretch goal after stretch goal and so came metal adapters, different metal adapters, bands etc. It's not like they had the designs for metal ready to go if they had enough funding, they kept changing the design, different band widths, no gap, too much gap.
Their KS Updates is a great read, especially given the context now.
I pre-ordered a Click adapter just because I can't seem to find anyone else making an aluminum adapter to match my silver Sport. While I don't mind the mixed finish look of the currently available SS adapters with my Sport, I think it would be nice to have a matching one.
Before I got my Sport, I was worried about finding an adapter that would match the matte aluminium finish. In the months since, I don't really care nor mind anymore. I just needed something less casual as I knew I had a good chance getting the Watch on launch day. I withdrew my pledge to Click only because I preferred at the time what is now the widely available (with varying quality) of the Apple Classic Buckle adapter, and went with Monowear.
I might still check out Click after they ship, but it's starting to get a bit pricey just for the adapter.