If I could throw in a helpful summary, (and I may be wrong)I think it all came down to the goal was to sell between 25-50 units to raise the $100,000 the goal was. They probably had the intention to get those first few out and get some feedback, without necessarily calling it a formal beta.
Then the unexpected kicked in. They didn’t just get pre orders for 25 to 50 units, they got pre-orders that totaled up around 8000-10000 units within 30 days, and more after that! They probably had to take a moment to splash some water around and pinch themselves, but came to a conclusion: there’s a lot riding on this. A lot of people put down for a quality object. Sure, if the team was interested in a quick easy buck, they could have used all that money to get fast cheap parts, assemble a pile of crap and get it out the door and run. Not everyone who ordered one knows everything about lasers enough to tell the difference between a cheap flimsy product and a good quality product. Some people don’t know the same in thier break pads either, and I don’t know about you, but i know i can stick my head up a cow’s rear to get a good look at a t-bone steak, but I’d rather take the butcher’s word for it.
Now, some may have put the money down expecting a guarantee that they would get one right away, or within a couple months. But what good is a guarantee? You put it under your pillow to sleep a little better at night. But how do you know that the guarantee fairy isn’t some crazy glue sniffer? Model airplanes he says…yeah right. Then there’s money missing off the dresser, and your daughter is knocked up, I’ve seen it a hundred times.
The point? The point is, is that they care about quality. They did the best they could with the limited parts they had to assemble some great test machines, so they could research and make a more durable, more precise, feature enriched object. Then while that’s all being done, they can take the reasonable amount of time necessary to get the good quality parts together for that good quality product.
Tl:dr? Hey if you want them to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed… they could, you have spare time. But now, for your sake, for your daughter’s sake, ya might wanna think about letting them finish thier quality product.
/end tommy boy references