Personally, I like all the whining. It gives me supplemental data for populating my ignore list. No one likes a whiner, but here one can actually do something about it!
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Personally, I like all the whining. It gives me supplemental data for populating my ignore list. No one likes a whiner, but here one can actually do something about it!
Absolutely right about the carrier pickup. In fact, we can call them same-day if it's urgent.Quote:
Originally Posted by plywood
If Intrepid slips 20 months behind like us, I guarantee backers will complain no matter how often they're posting updates. I think Intrepid is their day job, and they're in full-speed-ahead production mode, so it's easier to do weekly updates. I wish them luck—it looks like a nice little camera!
I know we promised to post once every two weeks, but I no longer make any promises related to time. I really hope we can ship next Thursday, but it's not a promise. Honestly, a small percentage of backers will complain no matter what I do, so complaints don't even register anymore. They have zero impact. But constructive comments and encouragement have made a big difference.
I would encourage backers of any kickstarter to be 'generously forgiving' as much as possible. Staying calm and supportive, and encouraging those behind a project to take their time and make things right tends to go over far better than hounding them and holding people to hard deadlines. As frustrating as it can be, life happens, and any kind of development project can readily snowball into a larger task than expected.
A software development project I've been doing a bit of contract work on the side with has hit several major issues. They started off with a tight and ambitious timeline, and focused on using lots of middleware and off the shelf solutions rather than building their own code to finish their project as fast as possible. The problems started when they had issues getting some of their middleware to work as expected, and ended up several months behind schedule having to rebuild stuff from scratch that they thought was already done. Then they pushed back the release date to deal with a few bugs...
The community effectively exploded in rage when the release date was pushed back again, and several members took it upon themselves to out the developers as fraudsters, and things got to the point that nearly half the team has now simply walked away from the project in an attempt to get away from the harassment. This has delayed the project even further and put more stress on the last programmer who has been spending half his time trying to 'keep the community informed' online, and working insane hours.
The insane hours has now also lead to him being clearly sleep deprived and making more errors than he normally would have. The biggest of which was a mistake in trying to fix an issue with some file handling systems that has possibly lost 3 months worth of progress...
Long story short: Deep breaths, and stay encouraging towards a development team. Anything else might just result in rather the opposite of a desired outcome.
Ben, when you posted about a possibile early ship day, and also why you could not do it sooner I did not see anyone calling you a so-and-so for not getting the shipping out earlier. Each of us who posted simply said 'thank you'. I personally do not care if the 90 arrives in October or November or December. Naturally, when they do ship, I'd like a heads up. Even if only you post in the KS comments section, not an official update, on a regular day of the week, each week, you will go a long way to shutting down all us 'complainers'. I don't know, perhaps you thought that by telling us there would be another 10 day delay that we would all jump down your throat. But that did not happen, as far as I could see. It seems the complainers just shrugged, and said thanks for the information.
Particularly in Manufacturing, the delays from "Change Orders" dominate the schedule. Also dominated are price increases.
The Travelwide has been rife with "Change Orders", hence the delay.
We should simply be happy that the price has not increased as well.
Look at the F35, our new all encompassing fighter jet that has been a failure in dog-fight trials and is now up against the 40 year old A10 "Warthog" for best Close Ground Support superiority, where it will also lose the competition.
The TravelWide will not go up in price, and will perform it's intended function.
At the same time, we have all participated in the price increases on the F35..... a tax supported contract.
Did you know that large government contracts, like the F35 have a "bonus" for pulling the plug on the contract early, thereby saving money for the government on the contract?
It's called a "BONUS FOR EARLY WEAPONS CONTRACT CANCELLATION". A standard operating procedure for contract failure, paid to the Manufacturer of the product, or weapons system.
Ben should be so lucky!!:rolleyes:
The F35 suffers from trying to please all the people all the time, and thus pleases no one. I miss the days of the F16 and F14. :)
What's astonishing to me is that the Digital Bolex KS (which was also late like every kickstarter where someone is building something from scratch) had far less whining from people who were in for $4k!
But I think Ben and team have done a great job of creating a product that will allow people to get a 4x5 negative in situations where we couldn't before. Even with the limited focal length (my lens kit is 240/350/450) there's a lot we'll be able to do and it will open me up to new ideas. So I'm thrilled that they're doing it. My feeling is that it will get here when it gets here and I usually pop into this thread hoping for discussion of those possibilities and it's tiring when it's just the same few people doing the "are we there yet?" routine.
I love to read posts by people whining about the whiners.
I've found that the amount of whining tends to be inversely proportional to the amount of money "invested" in a given crowd funded project. The SnapPower outlet cover is a perfect example; $15 for the basic level and the whining started before the campaign was over. They weren't even very late (maybe a few weeks).Quote:
What's astonishing to me is that the Digital Bolex KS (which was also late like every kickstarter where someone is building something from scratch) had far less whining from people who were in for $4k!
Hi everyone
This thread has 251 pages..
Can some summarise what's happening with the travelwide ?
I wrote to Wanderlust few times and got no answer
Is the company going to deliver and is there any realistic alternative to the travelwide?
Are you a backer? Most of the information is available on the project page (on Kickstarter). https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...wide-45-cameraQuote:
Originally Posted by andrearicci
Look on page 239 post 2387,Quote:
Originally Posted by andrearicci
Ben says he intends to make more of the cameras so at some point they will be available. If he is able to sell the TW90 for only $149 then I think he will be able to sell a boatload of these. I hope so, he deserves some profit at long last. Ilford has sold well over 1000 of the Titan 4X5 for $200 each and all they can do is pinhole, this has a helical, can mount a number of different 90mm lenses and it comes with a pinhole too. If Ben can keep the price the same it is a real bargain.
Thanks Gadfly_1971
I got to know about travelwide when the kickstarter call was gone
Since then (say almost a year ago) I have been trying to get to know how I could buy one
I went on the official site, subscribed to the newsletter, got one or two only and then nothing
I thought the company had disappeared (I understand that's not the case) and I finally thought joining this forum was the best way to get answers
The I bumped into 252 pages of thread (which is BIG, long answer) and still I don't know the basics
Can one buy now ? Are we all in a cue until new order ? Is the cue's length impossible to deal with (6000 people I understand have expressed some form of interest). I am lost. Can with it, but still lost. Any precious info I might have lost ? Thanks for your time, folks
Once they have shipped the initial production batch, which is for Kickstarter backers, they will probably take a break (I would). They have said they can produce in batches of 250, so they'll probably put up an order site and wait until they have 250 confirmed orders before producing the next batch.
Rick "that's the synopsis" Denney
You can sign up for newsletter here: https://wanderlustcameras.com/Quote:
Originally Posted by andrearicci
I doubt very much that you'll need to wait in a queue of 6000 orders.
Just curious - how do you find out what number backer you were? I don't remember my number. I've looked around on kickstarter and couldn't find the backer list, which was my first guess of where to look.
Go to your "Backed Projects" page on Kickstarter. Click on the project in question. You should get a pop-up with the details, including your backer number.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winger
Thanks! Woo hoo! I think I'm backer #493. :) Though I still have to clean my darkroom to be able to load holders without swearing at the tent (just a few inches smaller than I wish it was). And my to do list is still so long I can't even figure out what to do first.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gadfly_1971
I never noticed that...let's see...
#10! :)
Curious, so I looked. I was #174.
Then I checked on my 10 other KS projects.
One was different, as they wanted enough money to make their rare product and then give it away to all, anybody. Idealistic young people.
A sound library of gunshots, from rifles, machine guns, pistols anything they could borrow or rent. They paid for ammo and had a blast!
Purpose was to supply Indie Film makers with realistic sound effects.
This is a quote from their August 2014 last and final KS update.
"...This wasn't an ordinary Kickstarter project, with some kind of business transaction tied in. In all honesty, we were terrified people wouldn't want to back something that had no exclusive value to backers, but you all gave an incredible amount of support for an open source library, even if you weren't sure you'd ever use it. The opportunity you gave our team will be what some of us use to start our careers. We couldn't have done it without you, and we can't thank you enough for the incredible blessing this experience this has been. We have learned so much with your help.
Thank you and all the best,
Ben & Brian"
I will not provide a link, you may find it yourself.
#5 here. :cool:
Nothing pops up for me. Oh well...Quote:
Go to your "Backed Projects" page on Kickstarter. Click on the project in question. You should get a pop-up with the details, including your backer number.
You understand this is not the KS site for the TravelWide 90 but the kickstarter.com site. To log in you will need your e-mail and password. After logging in you will see the projects you have backed, select the TravelWide and then select 'the plus symbol at the right, that should show you the date you backed the project and the number order you are in. Anyway, that's the way it worked for me. I am in the middle, number 342 if I recall correctly. I don't give a rats hind end when I get this thing, I just like to have a heads up when it ships. If it ships in this first batch there is a good chance I'll be gone, won't be back home till October 18th.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew O'Neill
Andrew O'neill,
Sorry, I gave you a bum steer there. I should have identified the platform I'm using, it is my IPad.
So, this is exactly what I had to go through.
Looked up kickstarter.com
On the site touched 'me' at the right of the screen
Then under 'my stuff' I touched 'backed projects'
Then i touched the plus sign at the right for the TravelWide project.
That's when the information popped up.
I don't know if it would work the same on a regular PC.
Regards, John
Ok backers, this means that guys like me can wait forever
Sorry folks for the ranting but all this "my number is smaller than yours" isn't really music for the 5000+ waiting
Has anyone, ever, suggested to Ben& Co to ring at the door of a SME incubator and get assisted in this phase?
This "I'll manage alone" sort of thing, is not working. And it's frankly against any serious growth perspective for the company.
With 6000 people in the cue, and 128k already mobilised, being in the US (not in France or Belgium and even less in Southern Europe!) I don't catch why it has been impossible to get from a bank enough to make the cash flow work properly ? Maybe that is between page 123 and 167 of this thread ...
Like this, Wanderlust may keep 15% of those in the cue, the others will buy something else
Frankly, don't be afraid to ruin the "three guys in a garage model", ring at the door of the Sloan School, MIT, Chicago U. anywhere, and get tutored by some expert in enterprise growth. You have already won with the basic idea.
I find it incredible. These guys have unleashed the biggest latent market in photography of the past ten years (not the market of LF photographers alone, but a transversal market which connects Lomo users to would be phase one owners) and nobody is helping them convert this into money.
Can someone help the creators of the travelwide ?
I know, the answer is on page 911
Andrew, at first I thought it wasn't there either. It takes a bit of searching. I am using a Mac. My search involved: 1. hitting the "Me" icon 2. viewing the list of backed projects in two places. The one you want is in your "profile list" of backed projects.3 you select this project and have to go another two tabs deep.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew O'Neill
Not sure what you mean by all that long comment but......Quote:
Originally Posted by andrearicci
I don't think these guys are trying to launch a serious enterprise. This was a 'passion project'. Sure they have a "company", Wanderlust by name, but they both have demanding day jobs that pay the rent etc. This 'small, lightweight, cheap, handheld 4X5' idea apparently has been rattlinging around in Ben's head for several years. You know, the type of idea that starts out...."gee, wouldn't it be neat if someone made......" So, finally, Ben and buddy Justin decided to brain storm, build (by 3D printing) a couple of prototypes, get some quotes from potential suppliers, and finally launch a KS campaign. I believe if they had only known the serious difficulties they were to encounter they would never have started. But, fortunately for us, they stuck it out, much to the detriment of their own bank accounts. Now, they do intend to, when they can, produce this camera for sale. But when that will be......well it all comes down to, it depends. If you really want one, you'll probably just have to wait.
I never noticed that either. I'm #6.
BarryS beat me, who are the other four people?
Thanks. I was wondering how to find this out. Looks like I'm #820. I wonder if Larry or Barry will trade places with me. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank_E
Hmm... I never noticed that either. I just checked and I'm #994 from May 1, 2013. Guess it took me a while to commit!
#125
a bit surprising as I didn't think I was that early.
Sorry, I'm equal with the next 494 backers as far as shipping, I don't want to slip to the next shipment of 500.Quote:
Originally Posted by HMG
I'm 334. That is not because I wasn't going to back but just didn't get around to it until then.
I don't even want out think about my spot in the line. suffice it to say, I think it barely predates Columbus' whistle stop in the Americas lololol
Looks like I'll be in the second round:) thought I'd signed up earlier but no such luck.
#2
Who is #1?
Actually #2 and #143...
Mom and Dad?
My guess is that Rick Denney is #1. I think he said that at one point.
Yes, I was on the kickstarter site. The problem was my stupid teacher computer at school. Worked fine on my mac at home. I'm #110.
Logistics being what they are I'm not sure where we are in line counts that much. They probably want to get out a lot of the cameras to backers outside the U.S. since they will take the longest time to arrive. I'm 344 but could care less if I'm in that first batch. Actually it will be an bad thing if I am since I'll be out of town until 10/18 and our house sitter will be in and out at odd times so might not be there to get a package even if it arrives. It would be a shame if it was usps and they sent it back because there was no one at the door to accept it. What rotten timing for a trip.
Joy !
I just realised I am #6001
Do you mean 1006? The Kickstarter campaign closed at around 1200 backers.Quote:
Originally Posted by andrearicci
Larry, see post 2513,Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
I think the op is just being sarcastic. He also seems somewhat indignant that Wanderlust has not done more to make these cameras available for sale.
Anyone craving instant gratification or gratification on-demend should move on to digital imaging and leave film photography in any format.
The TravelWide is no longer a good idea with potential . . .the cameras are anow physical reality. Lets just leave the guys alone to get it all sorted out. I am sure that everyone will get their camera.
#551 :-(
edit : I did build myself an Afgan Box camera to whittle the time away :-)
Attachment 140076
#16 ;)
I'm #8, which means that 7 people signed up in the 24 milliseconds it too me to mash the button. You must have been 6 milliseconds behind me, heh.Quote:
Originally Posted by Corran
But my second camera has a higher number.
Rick "who was watching an atomic clock that day, as it happens" Denney
All the first batch are made and are being prepared for shipping. We've been waiting for a couple of years. Large format is about patience, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by andrearicci
Any project like this will be a labor of love and will require a lot of mutual understanding. But all the production problems are solved, and I suspect there will be a more stable, but still limited supply, going forward. A rush to overfund an initial production could bankrupt them if they predict wrong, so expect a little more conservative approach. The correlation between apparent excitement and cash payment is often pretty weak. I mean, they were nuts to even contemplate this project when measured against any good business sense. I for one am grateful.
Rick "but there may be some available on the secondary market from the Kickstarter backers, after delivery" Denney
I should send mine to Rick, but Noooo!
I'm keeping it!
Rick has the best stories. :)
The search continues for backers #1, #3, and #4.