Not much - if anything other than being a Product owner and maybe a very slight royalty.

Most R&D (at least in the US) done on company equipment and/or company time belongs to the Company.

I have to agree. I think that a giant multibillion dollar conglomerate starting a crowd funding platform for their own devices is really shameful.

 So Sony should just blindly throw money into products that don't know will attract conumers and make the money back? I strongly disagree. This is a great idea that is beneficial to both the employees and the corporation as a whole. Employees no longer have to be shy to show off their potential ideas, while Sony doesn't have to worry about losing money if it doesn't work out. 

it's just stupid, billionaire companies and crowdfunding, that's a reasonable reason to say what I said. But ok, I understand this era of zombies.

Moderated for this post, and others - Miguel_Zorro

Why? Seriously -- Why?

What is wrong with a company using a system to determine interest in a product in exchange for guaranteed access to that product? They aren't asking for charity... you get a product in exchange. In contract law the money: product is considered valid consideration.

 So again -- Why? Whats wrong with this?

I have to wonder if the responses would be different if a massively profitable company did this... I feel like there would be more pitchforks in that scenario...

Sony is sadly not that profitable anymore, so this is a genius move  by them.

I can't believe people actually think this is a good idea. Do people not understand they are giving money to a company and providing them the opportunity to generate revenue with absolutely no risk? I am all for supporting companies that provide great products but there is no way in hell I am funding their R&D so they can turn a profit. Absolutely ridiculous.

omg poor sony, it's not about sony, it's about the "great" idea, which is not. but ok I'm not going to change your state of mind so ok.

So your reasons are:
1.) Its stupid
2.) Billionare companies
3.) Crowdfunding

Mind putting those 3 items into an actual reason rather that has some defensible rationale? For all intents and purposes, they are offering access to a product on a "if x interest is generated you all get... if not ... no one gets charged" basis.

As I said in my last post, they are doing everything correctly within the Universal Code of Commerce and Contract law. They are offering a good or service in exchange for legal tender (consideration). What is wrong with this?

It's not stupid. In this day and age, where projects cost millions upon millions to create, a crowdfunding campaign can be used to gauge potential interest, which in turn allow companies to see if an item is worth spending on or not. Surely, you haven't lived under a rock the last few years and saw many companies going under because of failed projects... 

But sure, go on and flame people by calling them zombies. That should get you far.