John McLear
    John McLear
    Jul 27, 2013
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    You did it!
    In just a week you made the NFC Ring not only a reality but possibly humanities best shot at making wearable technology a movement powered by the people.

    You already smashed some Stretch goals and got some great things available:
    - Multiple ring/inlay pledge options
    - Sweet spot sticker with every ring
    - Titanium Ring option
    - Android NFC Ring Unlock App
    - Investigate Windows Mobile App
    - Provide half size ring options
    - Create Stealth Bomber ring option
    - Five color inlay options

    Keep pushing because there are some great future Stretch goals still to reach:
    - £110,000 Windows Mobile App
    - £150,000 Different color options for the ring metal (IE Black/Blue)
    - £200,000 Ten color inlay options
    - £250,000 Provide transparent Inlay covers
    - £300,000 All Kickstarter Edition Ring backers receive a free Alpha Ring. Perfect gift, who doesn't want a free ring!
    - £350,000 Investigate iPhone Partnership with an NFC sleeve provider

    We ordered early
    Due to the large demand we have ordered the internal parts for 10000 rings, this should remove some delay from production.

    We're going to China to oversee production
    Getting the rings right is really important to us so mid-August we're flying out to visit our factories and suppliers in China. We will be video logging our visit over at http://youtube.co/nfcring - Subscribing will be a great way to keep up with how your ring production is proceeding.

    Get to a jewellery shop if you can
    Ask them to measure your ring finger, the more accurate the reading the better your ring will fit. Once you have your ring size store it safe as we will be asking for it shortly. If you can't get to a jewellers we will be providing you with other measurement options over the next few weeks.

    So what do you need to do?
    1. Subscribe to the Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/nfcring and/or the blog at http://blog.nfcring.com
    2. Visit a jewellers and get your ring finger size
    3. Keep on telling your friends about the project, we're on to hit our big stretch goals


    John McLear
    John McLear
    Aug 4, 2013
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    Hey!

    So we've been thinking, we want to know what you want your ring to do!
    All we want you to do is send us three uses for the ring and the best one will be included in the app.

    May the best idea win! :)



    Aug 4, 2013

    1. Send/Receive Bitcoin using the info stored on the ring
    2. Store Medical/Personal Data, allergies, medications, etc. (I work in
    healthcare). I'm waiting to get the ring to use it in an elevator pitch.
    3. Unlock my phone

    4. Make Pancakes =)

    Aug 15, 2013

    Hi John,

    I know you're busy in China getting our orders sorted and I think that's great. I was lucky enough to get in on the Erli Bird and can't wait for my ring.

    Question for you:

    I see that there have been updates mentioning large orders. Is it possible to get a pricing tier/breakdown per number of rings ordered? I am active in Bitcoin and have done some writing for Coindesk. I plan on making the ring in to an article and possibly a group buy on bitcointalk.

    If I had a pricing breakdown I could begin taking preorders or at least start feeling out the community to see what their thoughts are. Please let me know! I'm very excited about this device.


    John McLear
    John McLear
    Aug 22, 2013
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    Hey!

    This is our first survey which enables us to get an idea of your requirements of your ring, sizes and colours :)

    If you follow the link below and submit when you've finished, easy!

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dF9FX0pJMm5QLTcwWGdtS2JGbjg5Wnc6MA

    John McLear
    John McLear
    Aug 22, 2013
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    Hey

    Apologies something funky is going on with the survey we just sent out.. we're going back to the drawing board.. the next one will be out hopefully tomorrow!

    Thanks for your patience

    John McLear
    John McLear
    Aug 23, 2013
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    Apologies for the error with the the survey we sent yesterday!

    This is our preliminary survey so we can get a good idea of your requirements. It will help us ensure we get our order quantities as close as possible to the correct numbers for each size and colour. The official Kickstarter survey will be sent out at a later date when we are ready to ship so we can collect your delivery address and confirm your choices from this survey.

    If we could ask you submit this form back by Friday 30th August at the very latest so we can put in the orders for your rings :)

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HAuu87VxrXCGKRwKyK9yVB6ZezT34KGV_I_iGzBlVXs/viewform

    Any questions email Tanya - [email protected]

    John McLear
    John McLear
    Sep 1, 2013
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    Hey guys,

    Thank you to those that have already submitted their surveys.

    If you haven't yet filled in your survey, please can we ask that you do ASAP so we can put the order in :)

    If you filled it in incorrectly or need the link to a survey then please email Tanya on [email protected] with your pledge tier

    Thanks

    John McLear
    John McLear
    Sep 1, 2013
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    Hey guys,

    Thank you to those that have already submitted their surveys.

    If you haven't yet filled in your survey, please can we ask that you do ASAP so we can put the order in :)

    If you filled it in incorrectly or need the link to a survey then please email Tanya on [email protected] with your pledge tier

    Thanks

    John McLear
    John McLear
    Sep 1, 2013
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    Hey guys,

    Thank you to those that have already submitted their surveys.

    If you haven't yet filled in your survey, please can we ask that you do ASAP so we can put the order in :)

    If you filled it in incorrectly or need the link to a survey then please email Tanya on [email protected] with your pledge tier

    Thanks

    John McLear
    John McLear
    Sep 1, 2013
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    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HAuu87VxrXCGKRwKyK9yVB6ZezT34KGV_I_iGzBlVXs/viewform

    Here is the survey you need


    Nov 28, 2013

    Hey John,

    Grats on the kickstarter. I was an Erli Bird. It never occured to me to tell you guys my last name is different than what I signed up for on kickstarter. I got in the habit some time ago (It keeps the junk mail away and I find out which sites sell my info).

    My shipping address is fine but my last name might need updated:

    Hope this doesn't much things up.

    Feb 12, 2014

    Hi John,

    So it's been forever and honestly I don't have the fortitude to read through the 30+ updates that have been sent out. I appreciate the level of communication but I was an erli bird and I dropped ~$20 bucks. I can't commit a few hours to reading the NFC ring saga.

    Could you just tell me whether or not I can expect my ring anytime soon? We're now approaching March of an entirely different year from when I expected the ring to come. To be honest, the "wow" factor that made this thing amazing is fading, fast.

    Is it possible to get an answer? Or do you plan on offering Erli Birds any type of deal where they might get their rings at some point in the future? The entire purpose of backing as an early adopter was to be among the first who get their ring. Now I'm finding out that because I have a carbon fiber ring (I think? It's been so long I don't even know what I ordered) I get to go back in to obscurity as to when I actually get what I bought.

    I mean, come on, this is getting ridiculous.

    John McLear
    John McLear
    Feb 12, 2014
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    We already began shipping, next phase is in 3 weeks and we ship over the next 6.

    It's not ridiculous at all, please watch/read the updates, we have 8000 backers if we had to reply to each one by hand like this it would take us weeks, weeks which would eat into our production schedule, this is why things get delayed..

    We're only a small team and this is Kickstarter, try to be a bit more understanding. Our team is working our ass off doing 14 hour days and when someone sends an email in because they couldn't be bothered reading our updates it's a little bit demoralizing.. Try to remember that..

    Feb 12, 2014

    I'm sorry to demoralize you. I guess it wouldn't be wise for me to do that the person who has accepted my money for a product but still not delivered despite seeing:

    Pledge £18 or more
    You selected

    200 backers All gone!

    EARLY BIRD: NFC Ring & App
    Estimated delivery: Sep 2013
    Add £3 to ship outside the UK

    That estimated delivery date. But hey, you're right. I shouldn't complain until we hit the full one year mile marker.

    So I apologize for not wanting to read your novella (perhaps novel by now) because I'm not that interested in the challenges you've faced, or obstacles you've overcome. It was interesting for the first few months but the longer this goes on the more it eclipses absent attention to detail and speaks to lack of planning/inexperience.

    Please understand this journey that you are on to create this product is not nearly as special to all 8000 of your backers as it is to you. Some of us would just like to take our reward for backing you and get on with it. Instead of being a cool toy and conversation starter this has become a tar baby that we're chained to and forced to check in on once a month only to find out "Oh wow, some production/manufacturing problem occured that wasn't accounted for and more delays are expected."

    There's a point where patience wears thin and shortly thereafter it begins feeling like your kindness and understanding towards the entrepreuner are being taken as weakness.


:: Email received that John has canceled my pre-order::

    Feb 12, 2014

    You've got to be kidding me.

    Alright, fine. I'm posting transcripts of this to twitter, all the bitcoin subs on reddit, and bitcointalk.

    I also write for CoinDesk and they'd been waiting for an article from me because they knew that I ordered one of your rings. I'm also a developer and a mod for devcoin and coinzen.org, so I'll be posting a huge warning there for people to see.

    You should look up BFL Josh and how our community treated him and his company when he started randomly canceling orders of people who asked questions about why their were shipping delays.

    Thanks for a whole lot of nothing John and for handling the feedback like a child. Take your ring and go play in your own sandbox where you can pout about people being upset for you not delivering.


John McLear
John McLear
Feb 12, 2014
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Thanks. Sorry we couldn't work things out.

John McLear
John McLear
Feb 12, 2014
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Might be worthwhile reading through this conversation before posting publicly though.. I think you might be being a little hot-headed.

The reason we refunded is because we're not willing to compromise on the quality of the product we send out Vs the delay. It's clear you wanted us to rush things through and also at the same time you showed no compassion to our team or the value of our updates which we put a lot of time and effort into.

Sorry if our business model doesn't work for you, but that's how we operate here, we put our backers, team and product first.


Feb 12, 2014

No John,

The compassion has been 6 months of patience towards your team. It's nice that most of your updates are filled with promises of what this thing will do but very little substance goes towards the bottom line. Which is when it can be expected.

There is a point where you have to stop letting perfect get in the way of doing good and deliver on your promises. All I wanted from you from this conversation today was a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Apparently putting your backers first is a lie. You just drop any backers who aren't interested in being sold on one thing and then getting a switcheroo after you get their money.

I think at 6 months in you earn the right to be a little hot headed. Especially with the calibur of response you've provided. This isn't a business model. This your fantasy being funded at the expense of others.

The reason you refuded was because you are throwing a tantrum and the stress of not getting your way is taking its toll on you. You don't cancel business because someone asks "Where's my product, it's 6 months late" and tell them you are 6000% behind schedule because you are a perfectionist.

That's not quality, that's stringing people along because you weren't prepared to handle the responsibility