Is this a scam.

[Miss Chicken]

I am pretty certain it is but a woman I am debating at another site believes it is for real.

I know that two years ago both Kickstarter and CrowdTilt wanted proof of a working prototype from the company. The company was not able to provide the proof.

However the woman I am debating thinks the company has probably been able to develop it independently over the last two years. She thinks they are legit because you can pre-order the device on their website and because they have a Facebook page.

She says it works like a printer but I don't think we have the technology yet to do this is such a small product.

Opinions, please.

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[Amaris]

It's a scam. Consider that the Kickstarter ended two years ago with a demand for proof, and there has been no proof forthcoming, I'd say it's bullshit. They left Kickstarter instead, going over to Tilt, where they were also shut down. Here's an old article on it: http://www.cnet.com/news/any-color-on-earth-pen-first-pulled-from-kickstarter-now-tilt/

 

[Miss Chicken]

I showed her two articles but she insists that they are old news from 2014 and the company has probably developed the pen since then.

If she has pre-paid for it, it is a case of a fool being parted from their money easily.

 

[Amaris]

I showed her two articles but she insists that they are old news from 2014 and the company has probably developed the pen since then.

If she has pre-paid for it, it is a case of a fool being parted from their money easily.

Show her this: https://getscribblepen.tilt.com/a-revolutionary-pen-that-draws-in-any-color

If that doesn't do it, show her this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/39hy1l/scribble_pen_scam_now_offering_preorders/

It's where the people behind the ScribblePen insisted they had made the device, and were ramping up production. That was from 2015. This is also from 2015:

http://www.ufunk.net/en/gadgets/scribble-pen/

As you can see, the design is now different. The official website has a different design, and the pen is now $249 to pre-order. So after all these years, the promise to ramp up production, the shutdown by two funding sites for lack of evidence (and full chargebacks to all accounts associated with Tilt), and now they're back but with a different looking pen and pre-orders? What happened to the people who pre-ordered the pen in 2014 and paid $149 but didn't get a chargeback? They get their pen, right? Right?

If she doesn't believe you after that, her loss. A fool and their money are soon parted.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Thanks, if she replies to my last post I will post that last link you gave.
She did mention that she won't pay attention to anything on Reddit.

She is pretty annoyed at me for disagreeing with her about this product. Luckily other people are taking heed of what I have said in the thread.

 

[intrinsical]

To do what is demoed in the video, they will need to squeeze a light source, a ccd sensor, a lens, at least 5 reservoirs of ink, 5 pumps, an ink mixing reservoir, probably another pump to ensure proper mixing of the ink, a mechanism to clean the old ink out of the mixing reservoir, a bluetooth chip to communicate with the iPad, a microprocessor, memory and circuitry to drive all these mechanisms and sensors, some form of lithium based battery to power it all and finally a charging interface to keep the battery charged.

It's only possible if they have access to Timelord "bigger on the inside" technology.

 

[Amaris]

To do what is demoed in the video, they will need to squeeze a light source, a ccd sensor, a lens, at least 5 reservoirs of ink, 5 pumps, an ink mixing reservoir, probably another pump to ensure proper mixing of the ink, a mechanism to clean the old ink out of the mixing reservoir, a bluetooth chip to communicate with the iPad, a microprocessor, memory and circuitry to drive all these mechanisms and sensors, some form of lithium based battery to power it all and finally a charging interface to keep the battery charged.

It's only possible if they have access to Timelord "bigger on the inside" technology.

Or they're putting it in this:

 

[Miss Chicken]

To do what is demoed in the video, they will need to squeeze a light source, a ccd sensor, a lens, at least 5 reservoirs of ink, 5 pumps, an ink mixing reservoir, probably another pump to ensure proper mixing of the ink, a mechanism to clean the old ink out of the mixing reservoir, a bluetooth chip to communicate with the iPad, a microprocessor, memory and circuitry to drive all these mechanisms and sensors, some form of lithium based battery to power it all and finally a charging interface to keep the battery charged.

It's only possible if they have access to Timelord "bigger on the inside" technology.

When she said 'printers can do it' I rolled my eyes. She answered by objections to her statement by saying 'things are getting smaller all the time'

 

[Amaris]

These are pen scanners. Let her denote the sizes and pricing of just a pen scanner, sans anything else one wishes to add to make it a wonder-pen.

Amazon.com Link 1
Amazon.com Link 2
Amazon.com Link 3

This is a bluetooth pen. Note the size and price:
http://store.livescribe.com/livescribe-3-smartpen.html

This is a standard Microsoft Surface pen. See the size and price:
http://www.target.com/p/microsoft-surface-pen-v4-black/-/A-50308956?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Electronics+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Electronics&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9015636&gclid=CJOes6X_mcsCFYU2aQodyNQHXw&gclsrc=aw.ds

The pen she wants contains all of this AND a color mixer, AND ink vials AND a pump, AND a processor to properly mix it all, AND a self cleaning system (like most printers have), AND it has to have a dual mechanism that will switch from ink to scanner and back again, and we're not talking a basic pen scanner, this needs to be an optical scanner capable of high resolution color sensitivity. There's just no way.

Also, you can just paste this as a response to her. There is no way this pen can be real, not for its size, and not for that price.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I will post that if she continues with the argument. She is admin of the group and I have been kicked out of two Facebook colouring groups already. I won't be upset if she boots me, so long as I have convinced others in the group it is scam.

 

[Tosk]

Gotta love the super obvious jump-cuts in the video too. You fooled me!

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The woman sounds sounds like a shill for the "company", especially if she is an admin of the group. Even if the technology could be miniaturised to fit, what's to stop them charging exorbitant prices for the Lightfast ink, which is no doubt "special" in an unspecified way?

 

[publiusr]

I have a great love for pens.

The Magna Tank pens were the best: http://officesupplygeek.com/pen-review/gel-pens/magna-tank-comparison-part-2-3-times-the-ink/

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I believe it is a scam given the details mentioned in the thread, but I also believe it is possible to construct something like this. At least from what I saw in the first few seconds of the video, which I had to sit through to understand what the thread is about. A colour sensor and electronics should fit in the tip, three Fisher space ink cartridges would fit in the rest (screw Russian pencils), and wouldn't require any pumps (Elon Musk could probably do that if God is binging on Netflix again). Mixing may be possible without pumps too. Cleaning? Who needs cleaning, just make the electronics overcompensate and spill more ink.

Why should it be difficult? It just spills ink and detects a colour. My Nintendo Zapper gun could do that.

 

[Amaris]

I believe it is a scam given the details mentioned in the thread, but I also believe it is possible to construct something like this. At least from what I saw in the first few seconds of the video, which I had to sit through to understand what the thread is about. A colour sensor and electronics should fit in the tip, three Fisher space ink cartridges would fit in the rest (screw Russian pencils), and wouldn't require any pumps (Elon Musk could probably do that if God is binging on Netflix again). Mixing may be possible without pumps too. Cleaning? Who needs cleaning, just make the electronics overcompensate and spill more ink.

Why should it be difficult? It just spills ink and detects a colour. My Nintendo Zapper gun could do that.

Because it supposedly detects every color. It is possible to construct this, however, but there's no way on Gort's green Earth it's fitting into the size of a standard pen.