Not saying the framework laptop isn't a great laptop, but reddot awards seem like a meaningless pay to win scam. Pay to enter, pay more if you win. Is it really an award if you bought it? For context, there were 70+ laptop models listed as "winners" last year.
Yup, I worked on a device that got a reddot award, and this is exactly how it works. IMHO it's a red flag (pun intended). I wouldn't be surprised if iF was exactly the same.
I get that someone has to pay for the system, somehow.
But, just be honest, call it the Red Dot showcase, and let the "credibility" come from showing off the product among products that the designers consider to be peers of each other.
This award could become meaningful if they consistently chose good things, especially if they called really good products really early and where alone in doing so.
You know what else has that cost structure? Colleges diplomas. $100 application, then if you win you pay a lot more.
Yea, we're not fans of these types of awards in general, so we apply to only the few that we feel have meaningful competitive categories. In the case of Red Dot, getting a Red Dot award isn't particularly meaningful, but the "Best of the Best" designation is truly a competitive award.
