[rickd]

I thought everyone here at HN was ....well, to put it simply, less negative. I mean, YC is all about doing new things, revolutionary or even just evolutionary changes to existing products or markets. Thinking outside the box. Changing! (etc etc ad nauseum).

Why did this thread devolve into "it can't be done" or "it can't be done that cheaply" or "it's just product x" or, finally, "its just revision n+y of product x"

I mean, ok, you think it's a crap idea: fine. You don't like it: fine. You have another product that fits this niche for you: fine. But I don't get why everyone is dumping on this.

Let's keep the conversation constructive at least. Saying "it can't be done for x$" and laying out the prices of the components you assume is furthering the conversation. Saying "it can't be done"- and leaving it at that- is useless.

[h34t]

My negative bias comes from having attempted a hardware development project in the past, with similarly ambitious and optimistic time frames, only to have reality kick in and demoralize the team by having the project drag on and on far beyond our projections (but well within industry norms).

I think it's an awesome, exciting project that the world wants to happen. But if it turns out that the original timeline is skewed heavily toward irrational optimism, it may be demoralizing to those involved to have their expectations repeatedly quashed. However I may be wrong here, because if the supply chain company that's involved is being realistic and has experience, I may be the one who is off-base about the timeline.

(I posted more details of my experience on the main thread).

I agree with you that a lot of comments on here are negative without adding any value, ie. no new data / insights, just content-less, emotional pessimism.