hiy stbf,
you clearly get it, and that's fantastic. no need to apologise for being
able to understand that this is a huge paradigm shift in computing :)
that's a very interesting view taken by your parents. i say "interesting"..
i mean "misinformed", as it strikes me that they totally misunderstand what
it's about. if they're older and not technically literate, this is not
surprising. perhaps this would be an opportunity for you to explain to them
that no, you don't need them to be making decisions on your behalf any more,
that yes, you're younger and that means "more technically literate". they
might actually appreciate that and be really proud of you, that you're happy
to make a case to them, as it would tell them that you're standing up for
yourself.
if you're brave enough to do that, and say "scuse me, i love you, but this is
something i understand and believe in and i'd like to back it" then here's
some potentially useful things to say (including printing this message out
for them - hello mr and mrs stbf, my name's luke kenneth casson leighton, i'm
46, and i've been a software libre engineer for over 20 years, that means i'm
strongly committed to ethical business practices, and from that experience
i've been studying and working on how to make a big difference in the world
for the past 5 years so that people no longer have to be afraid of their
computers - and that includes you).
many people totally misunderstand what crowd-funding is... *including* people
who *RUN* crowdfunding campaigns. crowdfunding is a gift economy: it's not a
shop. you're not *buying* a "product with a warranty". you're not placing
an order. you're not entering into a "contract-of-sale". kickstarter
actually had to change their rules back in i think it was 2012 but it still
hasn't made any difference: most backers still think of crowdfunding as "a
place to go shopping for cool stuff".
what you *are* doing is - if you have any sense - analysing the background of
the people behind the campaign, seeing what they are doing and *why* they are
doing it - and in the *genuine* crowdfunding campaigns you're following along
the story of how they manage to pull it off... or in some cases not... so
that everybody learns.
the earliest crowd-funded hardware campaigns didn't even *have* crowd-funding
sites, they just did it on their own! 4,000 people sent something like $300
deposits *each* to the openpandora team, and it was over 2 years before they
delivered! during that time, they kept in touch, they told people what was
going on, all the problems, all the successes, all the hilarious cock-ups
that needed fixing, and people loved it.
for the most part yes you're absolutely right, mr and mrs stbf: most people
who run crowd-funding campaigns are naive and/or greedy and/or think they're
running a pre-orders "shop": they've heard of this thing called
"crowd-funding", they've heard of this word called "open", but they have
absolutely no idea what they're actually committing themselves to... and they
end up lying to themselves *and* their backers.
by complete contrast what i'm doing is taking a stand against the mainstream
computing industry, with a strategy that they've *already* declared, thanks
to their vested and selfish interests, to be "unprofitable". in fact, many
of the mainstream mass-volume manufacturers are behind the efforts to destroy
the "right to repair" groups efforts to have the law changed so that people
have the LEGAL right to repair their electronics (all mass-produced computing
appliances are designed for manufacture, now, not for repair).
this is what your son wants to back. he *fully recognises* that he's not
"buying a product" - he's backing an *idea* and a strategy that, if
successful at the scale it's intended to reach over the next ten years, could
make a significant improvement in how people think of their computers...
within *your* lifetime not just his. when i ask people of your age if they
are afraid of computers, if they are afraid to use them "in case they do
something wrong", they answer - really surprised - "why yes i am!" and the
relief is palpable and clearly visible on their faces, as if for the first
time in their lives they have had the opportunity to voice something that has
been worrying them without them ever really truly realising it.
you're not alone. this is not a computer design that makes people scared to
use them, or resent buying them. it's the total opposite.
stbf, if you *really* believe in this, then here's some potential things that
you can do - and i would suggest being honest and up-front with your parents
that this is what you're going to do. tell them, "ok, so you won't help, but
i fully intend to back this project. what i'm going to do is, i'm going to
go and find friends - people that i trust - who have a credit card, i'm going
to earn some money myself, and i'm going to GIVE it to that person and ask
them to back this project for me".
or, if you feel comfortable explaining it to your parents, you could find
someone willing to sell you some bitcoin, then contact
supp...@crowdsupply.com (cc me - luke.leigh...@gmail.com) and ask for their
bitcoin address.
if you explain that you're starting with say only $5 they'll look really
puzzled that you're going to all that effort just to back somebody's ideas
with $5. that should get the message across to them that it's *really* not
about the "warranty". also let them know that i've had over $1,000 in
donations *during* the campaign, that i've had donations from *individuals*
in the software libre community over the past 5 years totalling something
like $3,000, that i've spent something like $20,000 of my own money to bring
this to people, and that even chris, from thinkpenguin, has been *sponsoring*
me full-time for the past 2 years, *not* "paying" or "contracting" me. it's
gift economy, and it's beautiful.
