Memoto blog - Latest Comments

Re: Weekly Update: injection molding success and great progress with photo processing

Jessica — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:54:54 -0000

I'm in agreement with Tim, I happily was a part of the funding during Kickstarter and will try to remain positive, but it gets harder each time another event passes by where I wish I could have logged it. I will also try and remain understanding that, yes, this is a difficult and ambitious project and it will take time, but it gets harder as weeks and months pass by the proposed delivery date. I appreciate Memoto's continued efforts to keep it's backers updated. Each week I read the updates, hoping for a conclusive delivery date. Thank you Memoto for bringing such a great and highly anticipated product into reality.

Best,
Jessica

Re: Weekly Update: injection molding success and great progress with photo processing

Meekthegeek — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:34:00 -0000

Thanks for all the updates and information, it's much appreciated. I really enjoy reading about your challenges and next steps and I think gives us all a sense of how challenging the work is and continues to be. It would also be helpful to know how the current progress is informing your new target dates for shipment. Keep up the great work!

Re: Weekly Update: injection molding success and great progress with photo processing

Ira Burton — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:25:12 -0000

Haters are always gonna hate. Keep up the great work and great updates. I have no worries until communications break down. In fact, I just ordered a second unit from your web site because i have such confidence that you will be delivering soon. I have seen many tech start-ups, and I am confident that this one will be successful. Products of this type are enormously complex, which is why this has not been done before.

Re: Lifeloggers: Meet the reporter, Amanda Alm

James Ryan Moreau — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:39:31 -0000

Loving this concept. Will stay tuned to see what happens! Might even try it myself.

Re: Weekly Update: injection molding success and great progress with photo processing

Tim — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:59:03 -0000

It's great to hear that you are "making progress every day" but what is the date that you are committing yourselves to in order to deliver the end product? My apologies if this information is well known to the public but I don't see any reference on this website to any kind of plan or commitment or measurement of progress in percentage terms. If all I ever told my boss was that I was making progress but never committed to a delivery date for the projects he gave me then I'd very quickly find my funding - ie, my salary - ceased to exist!

Re: Welcome to the Memoto Blog!

Sarah Hines — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:27:46 -0000

Love the idea! Look forward to cheering you on!

Re: Weekly update: 200 PCBs for testing and finished web-view of a shared moment

NiclasJohansson — Mon, 20 May 2013 07:21:30 -0000

We will soon announce a date here on the blog and directly to all of you who have pre-ordered a unit or backed us on Kickstarter. We understand you're keen to know as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

/Oskar

Re: Through the Naked Eye: a novice’s take on lifelogging

sahm21 — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:38:19 -0000

Hi Insigniff, I think this is an interesting question to explore when more people have started visually lifelogging. It's a bit difficult to answer right now and may really be a question that needs to be evaluated on an individual basis. A big part of the original concept of lifelogging with Memoto is the ability to enjoy the moment without having to stop and document it. Best, SM

Re: Weekly Update: injection molding success and great progress with photo processing

Martin Källström — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:30:25 -0000

Hi Mary

I want to give you as clear answers as possible, so let me confirm that I understand perfectly what you are asking and then I will try to adress each of your questions. I don't assume I have anything confused, it's that I want to make sure I adress all of your questions not leaving anything out. Please correct me where I'm wrong, or add to this list other questions/concerns you have:

1) You are concerned as to if Memoto will manage to deliver the rewards to our backers or not. For us to prove this, you'd like us to disclose our financial records as you state above with amount of funding, burn rate etc, as well as where our VC funding is coming from.

2) Second, you are concerned about if we will be able to create a sustainable business in the long-term, to assure that we as a company will continue to exist.

3) Third, you worry about what will happen to your photos if Memoto would in the worst case fail to create a sustainable business.

4) You are of the opinion that we have misled the Kickstarter community in one or more ways. What I've been able to gather from your various comments, these are the ways you feel that we might have misled our backers: 1. by setting up a Kickstarter project even though it in your opinion seems we would have had the funds to go through with the project anyway, 2. by setting up a project with a product that was not as ready for production as we stated and/or 3. by setting a funding target that was too low in comparison to what kind of funds we needed to really go through with the project.

Are these the full set of questions that you want me to adress? Or do you want to add or correct anything before I make an effort to do so?

Kind regards,

Martin

Re: Weekly Update: injection molding success and great progress with photo processing

Mary McGuire — Sun, 19 May 2013 02:58:05 -0000

Dear Sara and Niclas,

You both appear to be noticeably silent on this discussion section of late and no one including your CEO has shown any sense of courtesy or professionalism by not addressing my fairly simple queries regarding Memoto's financials. Is this the
typical way start-ups treat their backers in Sweden? Or has your leader simply put the gag order on you both regarding my line of questions? I must say I am
very disappointed and thoroughly unimpressed by both of you for essentially shirking your duties as part of your community outreach team.

Although I do not currently have a Facebook account, should I nonetheless sign
up and move over to FB in order ask my questions there in the hopes I get some sort of response from Memoto?

Mary

Re: Memoto – Big in Sweden

Jenny — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:57:05 -0000

Congrats! Looking forward to try out the product

Re: Weekly update: 200 PCBs for testing and finished web-view of a shared moment

paul saluzzi — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:14:35 -0000

When is a understandable date to receive our unit?
Bluest guess

Thanks

Re: Weekly progress update: verified GPS antennas, new user experience and some waiting

Linda — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:21:54 -0000

I just looked, the team suggests we feel free to "send us questions and comments." No where do they promise to answer! That could be a clue . . . . I think your questions are cogent and deserve an answer. I do not intend to lose all of my pictures whether the problem is inadequate funding or miserable busines model. Wonder if we can all get our money back?

Linda Odum
PS I was considering buying many of these for my Instructors to use during seminars and training sessions to capture the audience.

Re: On the art of anticipating velocity (Memoto Shipping Update)

Mary McGuire — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:22:30 -0000

Sounds like Bob R works for Memoto as he certainly has nothing worthwhile or savvy to contribute to the discussion. Isn't it interesting when a women voices her opinion and seeks some honest answers she has "a burr under her saddle"... how quaint and charming of you.

If you could comprehend what I wrote, I have said nothing negative about the camera itself and, in fact, am a supporter of the whole concept and product or else I would have asked for a refund. To me this is not about a few dollars it is, however, about the integrity of the Memoto leadership and the transparency of their finances given they utilized a very public forum in Kickstarter to raise a significant amount of cash.

My point is fairly evident in that when your are many months behind schedule with a lot more development to go cash becomes critical! These are simple and open questions of transparency so YOU, Bob R, will not only get a product, but more importantly a service that is still operational beyond a few months. Just how do you think they are going to finance all this? Mr. Källström at this juncture simply refuses to address this very important area which is generally not a good sign.

Silence by Memoto does not help and this merely bolsters my gut feeling of the financial side of their business which appears to me to be not in the best shape for the future. May I suggest, Bob, you brush up on your business skills and apply them more intelligently next time you choose to write a borderline mysogynistic and derogatory comment as the basis of your contribution to the subject at hand. Cheers.

Mary

Re: On the art of anticipating velocity (Memoto Shipping Update)

Bob R — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:14:13 -0000

Sounds like Mary has a burr under her saddle. She must recognize what a great product this will be.

Re: Interview with Steve Mann on the rise of sousveillance

Alexander Hayes — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:32:34 -0000

Professor Steve Mann is also the General Chair for the IEEE ISTAS13 conference in Toronto 27-29th June 2013 - http://www.istas13.org or http://veillance.me - where Martin Kalstrom from Memoto will also be an invited speaker.

Re: Interview with Steve Mann on the rise of sousveillance

Katina Michael — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:44:11 -0000

There is so much to the history of Steve Mann's inventions that can inform how we have arrived to where we are today with Digital Glass. This needs to be acknowledged by those in industry and academe alike. My personal interests especially ponder on the social implications of emerging technologies that we might "bear" for convenience solutions, and not just "wear". What will it mean to "put on" the camera? Steve's participant observer status has given him a birds eye view of first person interactions of which he has shared in this interview with Memoto some critical insights. We have much to learn from these early inventor/adopters about the social-ethical implications that might be the source of public complexity.

Re: Weekly progress update: verified GPS antennas, new user experience and some waiting

Mary McGuire — Sun, 05 May 2013 08:05:24 -0000

Mr. Källström,

Well this is getting a little embarrassing, isn't it? I keep posting questions as suggested by your own web site and for some reason I don't seem to be important enough to get a peep out of you... or for that matter nothing out of Niclas or Sarah who are only a few pixels over on my right (not sure what they are getting paid for if they aren't even willing to be your proxy here and respond to my questions?).

But wait! Just over a week ago a backer did post a question somewhat similar to mine on the Kickstarter comment section... now let me refresh your memory ...

Anders M on April 26

"I'm curious as to how you're planning to run the business side of
things, to ensure the sustainability of the service over time.
Subscriptions, tiers, how you will scale, future plans etc. to the
extent you want to share..."

And, drum roll please, here is the ever so eloquent answer by Mr. Källström ...

@Anders "We take our responsibility to run a sustainable business very
seriously. We want to change the world, not merely make a cool gadget.
Memoto or the heritage of Memoto should be around for your
grand-grand-grand-kids to experience, so they can travel back in time to
look at how we lived today.

We will accomplish this by having the right balance between keeping
our own vision firm but still learn from our users and adapt to their
needs. If you use our products and services, you are the customer. You
are not a pair of eyeballs that we sell to advertisers. We want to earn
your trust, and with time become the world's most trusted brand in
wearable technology. It is no small undertaking, but nothing is easy."

Now I am absolutely convinced that Mr. Källström was a politician in a previous life because only a politician could come up with such a complete and utter wishy-washy feel-good non-answer to what was actually a pretty simple and straightforward question which amounted to something akin to "How the hell are you going to make a business out of this and scale so that you remain in business and I don't lose my photos??!!"

Perfectly acceptable and reasonable question just as mine are, but because you now insist in outright ignoring me then one can only assume you are in financial difficulty and you do not have the gumption or business savvy to address which are perfectly normal questions for people to ask.

Come on, Mr. Källström, I know you are reading this, so what is so hard about saying we have raised X through VC, X privately, have a burn of approx. X, and are looking for additional capital of X?? Why leave people thinking that you have zero financial concerns when you will launch 6 - 10 months after you said you would and is costing a great deal of cash to get there - AND THEN - you have to finance ongoing operations with a small subscriber base. Show a bit of professionalism and let your backers know that you can finance this and that their pictures won't get lost in the cloud somewhere!

"... Memoto should be around for your grand-grand-grand-kids to experience, so they can travel back in time to look at how we lived today"

Well, the way it seems right now with your refusal to reveal any detail on your finances, a year from now (or less) no one will have any access to any pictures - period.

Mary

Re: This week in Lifelogging: Biohacking, wearable tech and an app that dreams big

Jonathan Roseland — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:58:12 -0000

Here's some infographics I hope you'll find useful on Biohacking; 7 high leverage options to get started and the time commitment for effective Biohacking activities. For further explanation: http://goo.gl/BL34v

Re: Making sense of all your moments – Moment View

Thomas Beek — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:37:46 -0000

Since it's only taking two pics per minute, saying "every moment" is actually pretty innacurate...

Re: Weekly progress update: CMF, production test development and a Windows client

Mary McGuire — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:29:45 -0000

Mr. Källström,

I would appreciate it if you took a few moments out of your hectic schedule to address my questions posted a number of days ago regarding the amount of funding Memoto has received to date (including how much is VC money) and whether you will need to go out and seek additional capital once you have released the camera in order to fund your operations while you continue to bleed cash without any significant revenues on the horizon.

For many start-ups, especially those which are building hardware, it is critically important that there is enough cash or a plan in place to raise additional capital while you strive to get operational. As I mentioned, many backers are about to trust many thousands of their precious moments with your untested system and simply asking for some financial data that helps people to feel comfortable that you will not go out of business a few months after you begin to receive their photos is not an unreasonable request in the least. Don't you agree?

Since many of your KS backers are US based and you used the KS platform to raise a significant amount of cash, following the US based protocol about being open and transparent about your financing is the least you can do and retreating back to the Continent and remaining silent does not endear much confidence especially after your recent very big Mea Culpa regarding Memoto's many missed dates.

Thank you.

Mary

Re: Through the Naked Eye: a novice’s take on lifelogging

insigniff — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:27:13 -0000

Hey, i'm new to the term "lifelogging" and it was interesting to read your take on it. This sentence especially captures my concerns; "We’re all neurotic narcissists when the camera emerges, and this often turns a candid moment into a manufactured memory."

I wonder whether documenting and recording ones life reinforces an egocentric (obsessive?) relationship to every moment, and spoils the authenticity of things said and done. Although maybe this pessimistic supposition merely stems from a lack of experience, so i would like to know from someone who's tried logging and sharing their life.

Re: Weekly progress update: CMF, production test development and a Windows client

Benn.Witt — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:22:27 -0000

Keep up the good work! I'm very excited!

Re: On the art of anticipating velocity (Memoto Shipping Update)

Mary McGuire — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:41:04 -0000

William,

Thank you for your response and I appreciate your thoughts, however, I am a very seasoned KS backer and am very familiar with the whole risks, investor/not investor, not a store etc., rewards arguments. The very definition of gamble, however, is "to bet on an uncertain outcome", and you do this by assessing risks and I have no problem doing that. To me this has nothing to do with a few dollars but everything to do with integrity and that is my point here.

My contention, pure and simple, is that I believe the founders of this project intentionally misled the KS community and should not have been on KS. Yes, it was my decision to participate but I did so based on what was on their KS page, but I personally have no desire to help VC backed companies on KS and only learned that after the project closed. I then emailed Mr Kallstrom directly with my thoughts and concerns, he decided, however, not too engage with me on details of their finances.

The irony here is that I have been involved with several VC backed companies at the founder level and am very acquainted with start-up financing, term sheets etc. but we NEVER kept secret of how much we raised nor our burn rate because this was essential information that helped with our level of transparency. I am not against VC companies in the slightest but I am against the seemingly underhanded way that this company landed on KS by their lead VC being the same person who qualified them on Amazon Payments (and whom Amazon will send their form 1099 to). Just how many other companies out there who are based outside the US and then can use their London based lead VC - who happens to be a US citizen - to help get them on KS? A big fat zero, that's how many ...

Mary

Re: On the art of anticipating velocity (Memoto Shipping Update)

William D — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:01:55 -0000

Mary,

I know you must as frustrated as I am (I have made my points as well) about the delays and vagaries about when it will finally be available and whether there is the financing, butI think we are verging off the essential points here and, to be honest, I have to make one fundamental point: I think you went through Kickstarter.

As I am sure you know if this is the case, you are neither an investor nor a classic type of customer. You took a gamble backing a project. Many many many KS projects don't get you a product in your hands and that, I think, is a well understood risk. You also appear in your original message to criticise their 50K amount target suggesting it was far too low. I would agree this seems quite small, but at the time you paid up you chose to fund knowing that was the target.. You too made the same mistake.

Anyway, I find myself in the incredible position of backing them a bit here, even though I have criticised the communication myself, but at the end of the day you took the gamble..