Crowd Funding / Crowd Sourcing

There's IndieGogo, Kickstarter, and a bunch of others I've never heard of. Crowd sourcing: Is it entirely a good thing? Is it mostly a good thing? Is it mostly a scam? Is it more appropriate for the arts than the sciences? Will this be the new model for business or is it just a flash in the pan? Do you participate? Answer any questions and talk 'bout this.

I've heard of anime companies starting streaming websites for free with the promise of physical media releases if they get enough money pledged. I've read that Amazon is now letting people submit their own fanfiction for sale in limited ways (which isn't exactly crowd sourcing, but it's got the same "let people decide what they want" element to it). I also read today about efforts to get scientific studies funded this way. It seems really big now, but I wonder if it's going to stick around.

I like the idea overall as it can expose you to a wide array of capital, relatively quickly, to get your idea off the ground. That is great

It needs some fine-tuning though. I personally wouldn't invest in you if all I get is a t-shirt or early access to the end-product (and then in the end, I'm basically paying twice). I want a stock in what I invested in.