Great Concept. Poor execution.
931801
I read the synopsis of this book and thought "I'll give it a shot." This was a good and a bad decision. Good because I saw an enormous amount of potential in the story. Bad because the writing was horrible. The level of detail in this book destroys it. Mr. Booker, on multiple occasions, gives a minute by minute break down of the action. For example, in one segment of the story one of the characters was attacked by a bear and as he relayed his story out each break in the conversation was given a time frame.

one of the joys of reading is the part where the brain fills in the missing details. it allows the "movie" to play out inside your head. The amount of detail provided in this story is akin to a deep scratch on a blu-ray disk, as it brought the movie to a choppy halt.

Also it seemed as if Mr. Booker could not nail down his prose or his world's culture/period. This book seemed to be a hodgepodge of "hey let's throw that in" with no story mapping at all.

This story needs to be rewritten and severely edited for content.  However there is a great story here waiting to get out.
1725360
I got this bottle as part of a free "Welcome to College" package and it's the first time I've came across fruit infuser bottles. While I really like the idea, the execution of this model was rather poor. The bottom tends to leak (although I managed to make it stop. I don't know how. Exactly the right tightness maybe?) and the straw broke the second time I used it, while I was drinking. The straw now doesn't suck up any water, only air, so it's completely useless. I have no idea how this happened or how to fix it. It's a shame because I really liked the concept! And especially that the fruit compartment is located at the bottom so your water stays flavoured until the last drop.

I can recommend infuser bottles to anyone who wants a little flavour to their water, but I would stay away from this exact model.
1481240
The concept of this story is brilliant. The first sentence introduces a mystery that drives you to turn pages all story long. The events and backstory--on a macro level--are awesome. One of the most creative concepts I've read and I read a lot.

But the execution of these concepts was sloppy. Characters suddenly swing into rages, standing and yelling at each other. The health and fitness aspects weren't believable (some people run distances too easily and later in the story are winded by less, healing happens too quickly. The social dynamics aren't nuanced--they're pretty stereotyped. And for a long while I wasn't sure I liked the main character.

So it's worth reading, but you'll have to be patient with immature writing. I'm hoping the author got better in the next books.
4528737
Wanted this to work. Glitchy. Wouldn't hold charge. Would not turn on reliably. Great idea. Poorly executed.
2535324
Can confirm that this is a great idea poorly executed. It requires frequent attention to keep from completely coming apart. After the first week the plastic hinges began breaking, one by one. I will modify it to give it a bit more life, but I'll look for another solution rather than replace it when it finally falls apart completely.
1644356
Good concept, poor execution. I attached mine to a silicone case and it stuck for a few weeks and was exactly what I wanted but then it started peeling off once and a while and I could restock it for another week or so but eventually it became too much of a risk of dropping my phone to rely on. Can't seem to get the sticky stuff off my case so I had to purchase a new one.
593140
This is a nice concept, badly executed.

Despite the claim if being 'PlaysForSure' compatible, it didnt' work with Rhapsody's 'to-go' service. I'm not sure whose end the problem is on, but that's frustrating.

The UI is ok, but at times it's slow and lags in response time. The thumb scroll mechanism is sometimes unpredictable and hard to use.

The headphones that ship with the unit are defective and only play songs at half-volume -- you'll have to substitute your own. (This wasn't just my unit -- this is true for everyone, I've seen the problem in other reviews.)

I would save my money and look elsewhere.
674918
Great concept, really wanted it to work. And it did - but even on a smooth interstate, every single bump caused the plug into the ipad to come undone and the movie to shut off. I would have to re situate and plug it back in to the ipad and hit play again. Not a huge, huge deal, but annoying when it shouldn't happen.
690030
Wow! Great idea, poor execution. Using the Age of Empires engine was a good idea, but the designers missed out on a lot of the potential, and decided to just slap together a bunch of units. While it's great fun to use R-2 units to gather my resources, I couldn't help but wonder why I had to gather food and build houses for my little droids. There are plenty of other flaws like this one that make this game stand out as not much more than Age of Kings with some new graphics.
Still, its an imaginative game, and if you're a Star Wars fan who doesn't take strategy games too seriously, you might have some fun with this one. Enjoy playing in the Star Wars universe, and laugh it off when you have to hunt Bantha to feed your Trade Federation droids.
4753728
Great concept but poor execution. This is a $1 product from China repackaged and overpriced. I bought this one with the usb drive and spacers for extra keys  directly from their website hence the not verified purchase. Came in handy for a little bit, especially with work. Used it for about a month, then suddenly one day the little aluminum spacers sheared and all 17 of my keys went flying on the ground. Thank god I was at my house and not on the street. This is a near concept but poorly executed with cheap materials. I'll stick with my military grade carabiner.
842487
Basic concept is fine but it falls short in the execution of the idea. I have two of these gizmos and they worked OK for a sort time.  Then they started falling out regularly.  I feel this is due to two design flaws: 1) the cheap thermoplastic clips use lose their strength quickly- not being as tiff as they originally were and 2) the end of the clips have a vertical face when they should be angled a bit so they want to catch the air vent if something goes to pull the Garmin device out. The net result is that when you apply any pressure to the Garmin device, the little clips spread open and the Arkon Holder pops right out.  I know this a cheap device so you can only complain a little.  But I think it's sad that the company didn't use their own product and recognize the fault and fix it - quickly. I would have gladly paid twice the price for a similar device that  uses better materials and design and would hold up longer.
2458081
These are fantastic in theory but the execution leaves much to be desired. The quality of plastic is very poor and it is incredibly difficult to 1) find two halves that fit into each other, 2) actually get those halves to connect to each other and 3) keep them together. Even when you do get them connected to each other, you have to keep your fingers crossed that they won't pop open. Very poorly made.
3364303
I loved the concept of this book.  A virtual, year-long game with only one winner.  Fabulous.  And we get to participate by following a few of the key players: Nova, Arty, and even the bad guys.  And, honestly, that's where the good ended.

None of the characters were believable or ones you could relate to.  The main character of Nova was a Mary Sue, perfect, except with the cute boy, better than the FBI at finding evil cults' hideouts, and on and on.  I couldn't stand her.  Everyone was the same, two-dimensional and ultimately boring.

Also, I struggled with understanding when we were "in" the game, and when we were "out".  Nova would have her electropet with her as she got into the VR rig, but then he'd be with her as she raced around a virtual racetrack.  It felt like the game mechanics were supposed to read everything in the real world, but it wasn't made clear, and this proved a distraction.

My third pet peeve was the exposition.  Books that tell you everything that happens, as opposed to showing (obviously, the author struggled with showing events well) are boring.  No-one wants to be told how the bad guy killed his wife, we want to see it.  (This particular piece was also revealed far too early on, so we never learned to hate the character and then see his redemption.)  Exposition killed so much of this.

On top of that, there was extreme discontinuity.  We were informed that there was no chance for Nova to Google the answer to a riddle, but, when she was trying to figure out the bird puzzled, she jumped on a forum and found the answer.  Once again, this is one example of many plot holes.

Overall, a decent concept poorly executed.
1714778
Nice concept. Couldn't get it to work right.
1819439
Great idea but poor implementation.  The little buttons are very tricky and had the same protective paper as the other parts.  BUT they were still too big for the holes - so I had to use a small file to enlarge the holes.  Also, one of the nuts was too small for the screws, so I had to use plyers to even get the nut started.  Casing is tricky to assemble.  I found easiest was to turn over the screws and start them at the bottom so the nut was at the top - so everything held together better and I could remove the top layer to get at the buttons more easily.  After spending an hour or so getting this together, I plugged everything up, pressed the boot button and.... it stuck.  This is not a good casing when you need to do many of them - too labor intensive.  Maybe it's good for a one-off use.

The adafruit bone case is better (but doesn't have the buttons).  I liked the SVTronics pandaboard case.
798299
Great idea, very poor execution. This tape has many features that would be awesome if the metalwork so fitting that the tape easily kinks permanently. There are now multiple spots on my tape that twist and fold over when I should be able to extend the tape straight out.

 Do not ever let the tape been the opposite direction from which it rolls, or else you will have the same problem. Good luck with that
1069440
Good concept but poor execution. The strap's base plate cracked my camera body (Sony NEX 7, see attachment).  Also, the shoulder pad does not remain in place even during casual wear without motion.

I was contacted by customer service soon after I received the item.  I mentioned the concerns but never got a reply and it's been about 2 months (as of Nov 14, 2015). I also mentioned I would review on Amazon and asked if they had a solution, but as mentioned, no reply.

I like the gear, it's ability to stow as cards and small batteries in the shoulder pad. In addition, the easy access is great when the shoulder pad is not sliding in the way  However, I can't recommend due to the shoulder pad always sliding and the damage to my camera.