This article is a candid perspective on making things, making money, integrity and other nuanced topics. Crying 'You're rich, do it out of pocket.' is the opposite.
People donate to projects like this on kickstarter because they want a project to go ahead exist and they want to be a part of that. The writer is getting (reasonably modest) resources with which to make it happen, perhaps even some compensation. He gets the support of 1000 true fans who put $40 where their mouth is. That knits together some valuable forms of validation, encouragement, responsibility and other small nuanced things.
Why would you inject your negativity into this mix?
So, I had a similar thought and I think there is more here than just hating on people who supposedly have access to resources. It goes more into the question about why people support Kickstarter projects that are more business than art. When you contribute money to a business venture, it is reasonable to expect either ownership in the company or interest payments plus your original principal down the road. In this case you get neither. While a $75 t-shirt is nice, it's probably not going to turn into a $100 t-shirt.
That being said, it looks like people have pledged over $100K so far, so as they say, "the market has spoken."
I didn't consider my comment negative, nor am I hating on the writer. I was just expressing shock because I literally cannot understand the mindset of the backers in this case.
On a sidenote: Even if I did want to be negative about the whole thing, that is my prerogative, there is no rule on HN "only be positive". The up / down arrows are on the left of my post if you think it has no value.
I mean, the original was done as a side-project by the owner who did not have the money that, I assume, said post-acquisition owner now has.