Over the years, I have backed a number of Kickstarter projects with a varying amount of success. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have found that I am more likely to support someone that I backed before and like what I have received – or even just received it as that’s not always a guarantee. So when a company called CARD who I’d previously backed announced a new project I was interested. Their previous project, the Kablecard, is excellent and I still use it today.
Enter the CardPOD
The CardPOD is described by its creators as “a versatile MagSafe mounting device”. I was hooked by the word MagSafe as I am a sucker (pun intended) for something I can magnetically stick on the back of my iPhone. So I decided to back it.
The idea behind CardPOD is to have a hyper-portable tripod that you can use anywhere with your mobile device. The size of a credit card (albeit a lot thicker), it includes an embedded magnet to snap to the back of your phone. There is a slide-out portion of the card that is spring-loaded to open out in a V shape to form some feet. There is also a standard thread so that it can be screwed into a tripod. Given its form factor, it should have been something you could easily slip into a pocket and have with you wherever you go.
After the usual wait for the project to complete, factories in the Far East to be tooled up, manufacturing, and delivery, I received my CardPod and it was time to put the thing through its paces.
The good news was that it is indeed very portable, and I could imagine carrying it with me when I am out and about. Unfortunately, it was also immediately obvious that it was not fit for purpose. It suffers from several critical issues:
- the magnets in the CardPOD are difficult to lineup and don’t attach strongly to the phone
- the stand isn’t strong enough to support the weight of larger phones
- if it does work it only works on flat surfaces.
I took the CardPOD with me on a recent trip to Athens and took it out one evening when taking pictures of the Acropolis at night. I immediately put it back into my pocket after trying it and saw my phone slip off. I decided that it was safer to simply hold the phone still braced against another surface rather than risk it on a wobbly CardPOD.
It’s a shame that the CardPOD doesn’t work, as the form factor and the idea are both great, but I need to have the confidence in the device, and I simply don’t, so sadly it will be going into a drawer marked failed Kickstarter projects.