I think "Product renderings are prohibited", and to a lesser extent "Product simulations are prohibited", run against the emphasized goal being "a new way for creators and audiences to work together to make things".
When something doesn't yet exist, you have to present speculative representations to communicate (or even rationally discuss!) the vision. That goes double for a wider audience, which may not be as accustomed to letting their imagination range over exotic possibilities.
Such mockups should be clearly labeled, and placed alongside current-best-prototype representations for comparison, and disclaimerized as with the new 'Risks and Challenges' requirement.
But before Kickstarter, more traditional investors and prepurchasers -- and indeed internal organization R&D and product-development processes -- would use and expect such representations for design communication. Why cripple the new model with this encumbrance?
These guys are New York, and it seems like their leagal-eagle's have raised some concerns. This does not smell like bus-dev, or pr, or typical CEO brainstorming at work. so, it would be very fascinating to see what they are seeing internally. we can speculate, but that's not likely going to get us the same look at the situation.
I disagree. If huge product failures/not-quite-scams-but-might-as-well-be keep happening, people will loose faith in the Kickstarter brand. This is them protecting themselves, and their community.
If the real motive is to prevent scams/failures-to-deliver, that's OK. But that's almost the opposite concern from the headline -- "not a store" -- about just using Kickstarter as a channel for moving already-developed, riskless product inventory.
When something doesn't yet exist, you have to present speculative representations to communicate (or even rationally discuss!) the vision. That goes double for a wider audience, which may not be as accustomed to letting their imagination range over exotic possibilities.
Such mockups should be clearly labeled, and placed alongside current-best-prototype representations for comparison, and disclaimerized as with the new 'Risks and Challenges' requirement.
But before Kickstarter, more traditional investors and prepurchasers -- and indeed internal organization R&D and product-development processes -- would use and expect such representations for design communication. Why cripple the new model with this encumbrance?