Backers have started receiving their phones. Ars Technica summarises it well: "you are not placing an early order for an existing retail product—you're getting in on the ground stages of producing a product."
Right, but that just sounds like BS. What exactly is it that you are "getting in on"? What you actually get, is a retail product - and a warm fuzzy feeling if you are lucky, if not a I've just been ripped off feeling. Therefore, exactly what you are doing is "placing an early order for a
non-existing retail product". Which is exactly how scams work, so it is almost impossible to distinguish between a legit but incompetent startup and an out and out fraud.
These new tech companies are quite clever at exploiting legal loopholes, and therefore gaining an unfair advantage over existing companies. Crowd funding platforms don't have to follow consumer protection laws, nor investor protection laws, so basically they are a law unto themselves. The law will catch up eventually.