Crowdsourced rabbit funding
A ray of hope from my old colleague Emmanuel Moll, who has helped set up SaveNabaztag.com - an effort to raise funds from the community to rescue Violet, the struggling company behind the Nabaztag internet bunny.
I've blogged about the Nabaztag before, as has Michael, who even stars in a lovely YouTube video showing how CamVine kit can be controlled by RFID bunnies. We're big fans - as much of Violet for making the first real consumer products showcasing what the internet of things can be, which is a great accomplishment - as of the actual Nabaztag itself. Having made internet connected electronics products from scratch ourselves, we know exactly how challenging this must have been for Violet.
It would be sad to see Violet go under when they have achieved so much, and I'm intrigued to see how crowdsourcing rescue funding from the community might work. This isn't the first attempt to crowdsource funds - it seems to be all the rage at the moment - but with an established product and a passionate user community perhaps this could be a real success.
You can pledge to own a little of Violet here.
I've blogged about the Nabaztag before, as has Michael, who even stars in a lovely YouTube video showing how CamVine kit can be controlled by RFID bunnies. We're big fans - as much of Violet for making the first real consumer products showcasing what the internet of things can be, which is a great accomplishment - as of the actual Nabaztag itself. Having made internet connected electronics products from scratch ourselves, we know exactly how challenging this must have been for Violet.
It would be sad to see Violet go under when they have achieved so much, and I'm intrigued to see how crowdsourcing rescue funding from the community might work. This isn't the first attempt to crowdsource funds - it seems to be all the rage at the moment - but with an established product and a passionate user community perhaps this could be a real success.
You can pledge to own a little of Violet here.