[Macworld]

Post your comments for Starfish smartwatch saga illustrates entrepreneurial stumbling blocks here

[Lenjc1957]

'Fishing' for some free Kickstarter money using non-functioning prototypes as 'bait'? Seems, however, that all he got was some bad PR from Macworld. But at least it was free.

[thegraphicmac]

Exactly why I won't fund anything found on Kickstarter or any of the other startup funding sites. And what a waste of cash, buying a booth for a show when you know damn well you have nothing to show.

[himbo]

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But at least it was free.

As "free" as booth space at the Macworld expo is, anyway.

[michaelgpalma]

"Renting booth space for a nonexistent product takes a certain degree of gumption, optimism, and, of course, cash."

I was thinking of some other descriptors...colossally bad move I'd say.

[DVA_Airwolf]

MacWorld have just BURIED them and their project before it's even (seemingly) out of the blocks. Problem is with this sort of catastrophic PR is that if/when a Kickstarter (or other crowd-sourcing site) campaign kicks off, someone will just link back to this first article and that'll be the end of it.

It just seems so naive to buy an advert in a magazine and take a stand at a trade show, staffed by untrained people who pretty much know nothing about anything, putting out bad vibes to those they do meet in a disengaged way (where's the passion? why wasn't the CEO on the stand himself evangelising?).

Clearly, the Macworld, I'll call it exposé rather than an article, is a perfect illustration to start-ups how not to do things. Exercise Caution is right.

"Building products is hard. Building products with amazing feature sets is harder still." I'll add... Building buzz is hardest of all.

[jpellino]

Anyone who puts a 2002 XP tablet as a milestone in the evolution of computers might want to review their approach to technology.

It was the equivalent of Edison's 1,600 failures that showed the path to success - except MS, HP etc did the failing part for Apple.

[SockRolid]

If a connected watch were a good idea, Apple would have done it years ago. It's quite possible that the previous-gen iPod nano started out as a watch concept, but that the watch idea was nixed and Apple went with Plan B: the small, square non-watch iPod-shuffle-with-a-touchscreen.

Because, really, what's the point of having a "second screen" for your iOS device? Too small to show more than minuscule bits of text. Too small to view any media. Too small to accept more than one-finger tap gestures. (Guess which finger.)

I know, I know. Eventually technology will advance to the point where we could all be wearing watch-sized devices with the equivalent of 100 Mac Pros worth of computing power. Communicating via wireless Thunderbolt to our stereo earpieces / 3d glasses. Connected to the internet with 10GB/s 5G cellular data rates. And they would be free with a $99/year iCloud subscription.

But for now, the "connected watch" seems more annoying than useful. The perfect gift that you've never actually tried out. The uber-geek accessory that makes you look smart but feel dumb. This year's Pet Rock of technology.

[JMHammer]

I love that the cartoonish ad shows a slacker douchebag who's so late for work his boss has to call him to get him out of bed, and then he's soooo bored at his meeting once he gets there that he's checking stock prices instead of paying attention to business.

[supereric]

"The lesson here, for entrepreneurs, customers, and potential Kickstarter backers alike, is to exercise caution." And, of course, to never read The Examiner.

[xman22]

Anybody can "publish" stuff on examiner.com (it isn't a reputable source for anything).

[macmutt]

While the product left a lot to be desired, it DID inspire me to start thinking of a similar gadget that has one specific function. I only hope I can find a way to make it functional. It will ensure my place in Geek Mythology.

[markboston]

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"Renting booth space for a nonexistent product takes a certain degree of gumption, optimism, and, of course, cash." I was thinking of some other descriptors...colossally bad move I'd say.

i believe the word your searching for is deceptive fraud.

[Lenjc1957]

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But at least it was free. As "free" as booth space at the Macworld expo is, anyway.

Actually, I was referring to the (bad) PR they got here on the Macworld site. I'm sure they considered the money spent for space at the show to be an 'investment' towards the Kickstarter money, which won't now be flowing in.