so, in reading dareaper's uninformed complaints, i see one very useful insight; dareaper distrusts this project.

first, i personally have full faith in the ethics and technical ability of several of the most heavily involved people, simply from their dedication over the last bajillion years.
i also really like the bald transparency of the price vs manufacturing costs, and the up-to-the-minute guesstimates instead of arbitrary numbers to be refined immediately before asking for the dough.

however, i think it might be good to have a prominent place for non-tech folks that specifically discusses things like volunteerism/compensation, costs/price, sales/profits, etc.
preferably with at least one pretty chart with soothing numbers, and phrases like 'labour of love' bandied about.

in general, i get the feeling that there are MANY folks who wont take the time to grok this project in its fullness, but are nevertheless excited about an n900++. grabbing some of those folks and getting them on board might be the difference between success and failure.