scdoshi

From our perspective (hardware company), the 150k did provide some runway, but more than that, it provided funds for R&D. We could finally make future versions of the product without always finding a customer for it first.

We could order components just to try them out, without worrying that we were spending money on what may potentially turn out to be an unusable or unnecessary part. We could answer a lot of questions about what was possible using test setups rather than assumptions based on scraps of information collected from various sources.

80k probably would not have provided both R&D funds and some runway.

EDIT: I mean 'runway' in the sense of money for salaries, excluding R&D and other costs which could possibly be seen as ongoing costs of operation too.

3D Systems has been buying up companies in the field for a while now (bitsfrombytes, botmill, Z corp and so on, more here: http://static.cdn-seekingalpha.com/uploads/2012/11/19/6383-1...)

They are bound to have a pretty big portfolio of 3D printing related patents. A case of 'join or be sued'? Strictly speaking, wouldn't even be against the law, would it?

Couldn't you always clone a git repo too? But the ability to "fork" (clone plus some setup) on github is still very useful.

Doesn't anyone else feel that the solution should be enforcing equal pay and removing loopholes that allow the cost difference to exist rather than reducing or controlling H1-B visas?

That would automatically make it (or at least bring it closer to) a merit based system rather than a cost benefit.

This is cool. Could have used it yesterday, literally.

The fact that people equate a KickStarter backing to a product order is ridiculous.

When you back a project on KickStarter, you are taking a risk on a team, and you can't go in with the expectation that all will go according to plan. If you don;t have the appetite for risk, wait for the post-kickstarter retail launch.

This article written purely just to generate traffic. The author manufactured an 'investor battle' out of this? What?

Maybe http://www.tapin.tv/ could have filled in when the official stream went down. Crowdsource the stream?

Just did the same myself. Had been mulling it over for a while, but this pushed me over the edge. Let's see how it goes

Since I read the nytimes article however, I find myself stopping and thinking, 'Am I really that busy?', before telling someone I'm busy.

More times than not, I find that I'm not that busy.

The idea is to solve exactly what you are describing (whether the execution actually matches it or not is a separate matter).

The 'ration card' provides both, a way to check identity and a way to keep track of rations disbursed.

By separating out identity part and attaching it to your biometric data, at least theoretically, if someone holds your ID card hostage, you can go to the issuing authority, and get another one issued, because you can prove your identity without any form of paper.

There will be huge problems with implementing this, as any large system tends to have. But once the dust settles, it should make life much more convenient for the poor and everyone else.

I can understand the liberty v/s security implications, but I don't understand when people in the US feel they are better off in terms of liberty.

This is essentially SSN implemented in the 21st century. And you can't get a job, buy/rent a house, or get a bank account without an SSN

The fact that you can be anonymous in the U.S. and still live a life inside of regular society is a complete myth. And I think most people accept the fact that the SSN is in fact necessary.

India does not have any such system, instead of the SSN, they have ten different numbers attached to a person. All this does is make the ID part of it uniform.

The biometric part is not the focus here, the ID part is, which pretty much every developed country already has. The biometric part is just a means to get the ID part done better.

Just to reiterate, I understand the liberty v/s security implications, but americans have already given theirs up for security, so maybe that's just the price to pay of being a developed nation.

That is definitely something we have discussed, once we get the unit cost down and some further miniaturization in hardware.

We'd love to hear if more people think a consumer device like that would be useful.