It looks like the immense delays to the AGENT Smartwatch are causing some backers to ask for refunds.
Currently the earliest estimate for HH and SL to begin shipping rewards is Aug/Sept.
Poor old Chris W has been taking some stick for the delays personally. Lots of liar liar pants on fire complaints.
I’m still looking forward to getting mine…
Sounds like more than his pants are on fire…
Ah I see, I’m waiting one too … I think we go at christmas …
I’ve backed a couple kickstarter projects that never materialized. As long as we keep getting updates and end up with a good product at some point, I’m ok with the delays. Look how long it took them to get the Pebble out the door.
@ HughB - What surprises me is that Chris is usually more active in the forum(s).
I bet if he would have provided more updates on KS that would 've calmed down most of the backers.
@ Architect - yeah you are right. I think thereby be more going on than Chris is letting on and he is worried that it could further upset backers. I don’t know but it does worry me a little.
I hope the guy didn’t get kidnapped, after all he is worth a million bucks…
I would assume that a million dollars is no longer an acceptable amount for a kidnapping. I usually like to get 3-5 out of mine 
Lol, didn’t realize I was getting screwed for my ransom demands.
I’m Definitely increasing the amount on my next victim… and if he complains, it i’ll use you as a reference 
to convince him that’s it’s a good deal, and he should pay up…
Thoughts after the last update? Are we going to see the watch soon?
“soon” is relative. 
I am fine with “progress”. I am not in a hurry (luckily !!) and would prefer a functional device than one that fails to deliver.
@ Architect - I think we’re 2 months out. Looks to me like these are the final details.
Also, I have a colleague that got a pebble and he said that a 1 week battery is essential. I agree. So, actually, I am still excited to get my watch. I think it actually will be a great watch.
The Android watches are awesome, but a 1 day battery life makes it worthless to me. Honestly, I think 1 month is ideal, but I don’t think that is realistic from a technology perspective. Honestly, I don’t know if I will be ok with 1 week of battery, but there is nothing better.
@ Architect
I think there is a 50-50 chance that the watch will ever be delivered.
Their watch expert is running a basement shop in Greenwich Village. They have a line of watches which use off the shelf movements. The watches look good, but I don’t think they have much experience in putting non-standard components into a watch case. Lot’s of offshore vendors specialize in putting off the shelf movements into custom cases, but not a lot with electronics.
The longer it takes to get done, the less chance they will complete. At some point, they will run out of money, or not have enough money left to go into production and shipping.
There was a discussion on their site about consolidating the DLLs from MF into just a few. I take this to mean they have memory/flash problems. Are there software stability problems ahead?
It has been 15 months since the kickstarter project was announced. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
@ Mike I agree. I have the same concern that they will run out of many if it will take longer. If it fails, it could damage Secret Lab’s reputation as well.
Fingers crossed that it will not fail!
Btw my latest addition to my collection:
@ Architect -
I, too, hope that the project will complete successfully. But I have to admit, at this point, I’ve pretty much mentally written it off.
Unlike many of the complainers, I start from the assumption that anything backed on Kickstarter may or may not work out, and a reward may never appear.
I backed the Flexbot (nee Hexbot) hex copter, including Wi-Fi camera, and still have yet to receive the camera, though I’ve already managed to break the frame of the copter at least once. That project has not lived up to its promise at all, but that’s how it goes.
I think folks who are complaining about the delays should just be happy that they haven’t backed something more expensive like one of the many, many 3D printer projects. I’m betting at least some of those have been big disappointments.
If it gets done, it gets done. Much like the situation with retired Gadgeteer modules, folks like GHI and Secret Labs do the best they can to deliver good stuff for their customers, but not every decision or result will make everyone happy.
@ devhammer - I agree in general. Although the bar is higher for Secret Labs. It is not a fresh startup that is trying to deliver its first product.
Its first product? No.
But there’s a world of difference between delivering microcontroller boards where the only real size constraint is pin header compatibility with Arduino shields and creating and delivering a polished, functional, desirable consumer product that fits on your wrist. For all that we geeks want it for the NETMF programmability, it also has to meet the bar of a consumer product in order to have any chance of success.
Don’t get me wrong. Chris is a smart guy, so I’m sure he anticipated that this would be a challenging project. But it’s pretty clear from the results that it was harder than anticipated, mostly because of things that don’t come up in building what he’s built before.
But whether or not he’s experienced, I’m not sure why the bar should be any higher for Chris than for any other KS project. IMO, if you back a project, you should do so because you think it’s worth funding, irrespective of any reward you may receive. Backers are investors, in a sense, and just like financial investors, there’s always the possibility of having nothing to show for your investment.
I agree that the bar is the same for SL as it is for any other KS project; however, you might want to think of KS backers more as DONATORS than investors. Investors own a piece of the company they invest in. Donators do not. Backers also do not.
that and you have some confidence that the creators can deliver.
Surely the bar is just that the creators are honest and trying there best to deliver what they promised.
If you end up dissapointed as a backer(and the creators were honest) then it’s just TS. If I put a wager on a horse because it won its last 10 races, I can’t complain when it comes last.
Early adopters have always paid a premium. It seems to follow that by being even earlier that premium is higher, even if it manifests as non delivery.
To me the Agent watch is a bit ugly anyway, but I’m still keen to see it succeed due to the tech it uses.
That’s usually the case, true. My point was that even though an investor may “own” a piece of the company they’re invested in, there is no guaranteed return. If the company fails, they lose it all.
The parallel I was trying to draw is that in theory, KS backers “own” the reward for the level they’ve backed at, but there’s no guarantee that the project will succeed, and if it doesn’t, no reward can be provided.
In both instances, people take a risk for the perceived reward/return on their investment. And absent deliberate fraud, they shouldn’t complain if that risk turns out badly for them…it’s part of the deal.