One thing with kickstart projects, and other social funding sources like it, is that sometimes people are essentially donating to something that they think should exist but that they personally don't need or want. They are just trying to help increase the overall "cool"ness of the world by helping a neat idea get off the drawing board.

There are many things I see, either real things that already exist or design ideas, and think "that's great" or "that really should exist" but which I myself might not need/want to own or use. Some of the funding going into kickstarter projects, especially at the higher funding levels, comes from that sort of thinking.