Anyone Else Lost Interest?

[borgqueenx]

my parents and bro are already talking like: you got scammed, its taking to long, they just keep coming up with delays and exuses, and in a while they are in cuba enjoying all the money.
I want to prove them wrong......

 

[lulzfish]

Lies. Craigix is clearly in Britain enjoying himself.

 

[b._.o._.b]

Interest comes and goes. I'm not so hyped about it anymore partly because I bought a DS and an Android phone. They pretty much fulfil my gaming and gadget needs right now. Also still have some fun with my GP2X
I agree with people saying Pandora is still incomparable with any other device on the market. It is unique and I'm sure my interest will rise again when a launch date will become a reality and not the same old 2 months from now...

 

[rumsey]

Interest comes and goes. I'm not so hyped about it anymore partly because I bought a DS and an Android phone. They pretty much fulfil my gaming and gadget needs right now. Also still have some fun with my GP2X
I agree with people saying Pandora is still incomparable with any other device on the market. It is unique and I'm sure my interest will rise again when a launch date will become a reality and not the same old 2 months from now...

I'm in the same boat as you, I don't have to be "hyped" about a product like the pandora just to be anticipating it. I started following Pandora 2 years ago, and I was hyped then, but after December of 08 came I was much less hyped and more patiently waiting. In the meantime, I also have a DS and Android phone and those both go a long way toward taking the wait off your mind entirely.

Actually I just got my Android phone 3 weeks ago and I have to say its the coolest device I've bought in years, I use the thing so so so much already it really takes away from the time I have to spend at a PC... and the reason I bought it was anticipation of using it as a wireless tether for the Panodra. Things are looking good.

 

[ultm8]

I lost my interest a long time ago, even though I'm not interested in buying it anymore I'm still interested in the console overall.

 

[_VWV_]

Still we have to admit that due to some indirect competitors, the niche has narrowed a bit. There are many omap3 based devices now each with its own strengths and weaknesses raging from small fancy phones to relatively big touchbook. Not so long ago pandora was going to become the first pocketable omap3 powered device on the market. Thus it had a theoretical possibility to exapnd onto many other usage scenarios. In my opinion the niche has narrowed to pocketable gaming (with some minor additions). The question is if this niche will have enough capacity and to what extent this capacity is reduced by general disappointment preoderers feel about delays.

 

[Kayday]

Woot, another android user here. Anyways, still very much interested in the Pandora. It'll be used daily as my work computer to do orders and such. I never lost interest in the Pandora but seeing the Wiz being released got me excited again like when the GP2X came out. But I was not willing to shell out $200 so I got a dingoo instead. Nice cheap alternative handheld. When the Pandora comes out, it'll go directly to the bathroom. Something to do when you got to release some pressure.

 

[b._.o._.b]

Still we have to admit that due to some indirect competitors, the niche has narrowed a bit. There are many omap3 based devices now each with its own strengths and weaknesses raging from small fancy phones to relatively big touchbook. Not so long ago pandora was going to become the first pocketable omap3 powered device on the market. Thus it had a theoretical possibility to exapnd onto many other usage scenarios. In my opinion the niche has narrowed to pocketable gaming (with some minor additions). The question is if this niche will have enough capacity and to what extent this capacity is reduced by general disappointment preoderers feel about delays.

Personally I wasn't very interested in omap3. Any cpu more powerful than the GP2X would have been okay by me. Keyboard, gaming control and knowing a team of portable open gaming enthusiasts were working on it made the deal.
That situation hasn't changed. I still think there are a lot of developers interested in programming for this device and the hardware will be great.
The general public doesn't care about this device anyway, but they could care about what it can do. Advertisement to reach them is the next hurdle the team will have to take after the spawn of their mindchild. When this was indeed the first portable device with omap3 that would have been as easy as marketing gold during a crisis. Now they will need some more creativity.

 

[moxie]

Haven't lost interest. As someone else said, I preordered for the feature set, and that has changed for the better, not worse. And amongst those features are "has a proper keyboard and proper gaming controls" and "runs a proper OS that can give me a shell prompt". These are very important to me, and not easily found on any other device (I still use my Psion 5mx for a PDA, for it's lovely keyboard). Another very important feature is the openness and the software, by which I mean 1) that the manufacturer of the device really intends for other people to program for, hack and generally twist the device inside out, and 2) that I know that many of the people that made such lovely software for the gp2x will make equally wonderful stuff for the Pandora. These two points (especially the latter) is not found in any other device.

The fact that something is the most powerful device on the market, or some such thing, is completely irrelevant to me. The most powerful device that is also available to be utilised by its users - Now there's something. Why buy a device with all that power and then be constrained to videos and f-in java games? Or an Iphone, where the glossy design and the exclusivity is more important than the actual usability? To me, there is no comparison (Then again, I read on the BBC today that there is an Iphone app that displays a Purity Ring on the 'phone. Now, that is a killer selling point, ey?).

So no, I'm still as interested. Not foaming-at-the-mouth, chomping-at-the-bit, but then again, I never was. The delays are downers, but I was somewhat expecting those too. So - Nothing's really changed, why worry?

 

[Loonie]

"Loose Interest" sounds like a movie starring Harrison Ford and Kate Winslet.

 

[hedwards]

The fact that something is the most powerful device on the market, or some such thing, is completely irrelevant to me. The most powerful device that is also available to be utilised by its users - Now there's something. Why buy a device with all that power and then be constrained to videos and f-in java games? Or an Iphone, where the glossy design and the exclusivity is more important than the actual usability? To me, there is no comparison (Then again, I read on the BBC today that there is an Iphone app that displays a Purity Ring on the 'phone. Now, that is a killer selling point, ey?).

Yeah, that's the same for me, I've wasted way too much money over the years on that. I'll be happy to use the internet, play games via emulation and hopefully some newer ones via homebrew or ported from elsewhere.

At this point, I'm not aware of any other handhelds that are as close to what I want as the Pandora is.

 

[absolofdoom]

No, I haven't lost interest. I have, however, gotten sick of my dad periodically yelling at me for "getting taken for a sucker." And, the more humourous: "having that Craig guy mess around with you." If I'd have been able to give him one date, and that was it, all would be well. However, instead, I'd had 3 or 4 release dates to give him until I completely gave up on that and just told him, "Hey, when I get it, you're gonna feel like a total idiot." Of course, no one could have seen the bank fiasco coming, so I don't blame the Craig or anyone else in the team. *Sigh* Parents...

Anyways, though, you can point at a billion devices that are "more powerful than" the pandora, but the point of the pandora was never the power (though power certainly isn't a shortcoming of it). The point was for the excellent community of these boards (and newcomers, of course, like me) to have a nice, open device that games/apps can be made for, with no restrictions except the hardware itself. A device whose makers actually encourage every last bit of the device to be taken advantage of. And if you look at the large amount of games and emulators already being made for the pandora before it has even been released you can easily see that the idea has succeeded, and that an insane amount of great software is in store for us. I think that's worth waiting for, even if it is taking forever.

EDIT: fixed grammar, it said "blame the Craig"
EDIT2: put it back, at Loonie's request, lol

 

[Kramy]

The new iphone i believe has about the same hardware.

Please don't go nuts about game controls and whatnot. I just answered question 2. It is a fact it will not be the most powerful handheld device when it gets released.

It's more powerful than the new iPhone.

I don't care to start an argument, but many of us concluded that the power of a system is a mix of both hardware and software. If you conclude power based solely on hardware, then the PS3 is clearly 4-6x faster than the XBox360, even though there's no hope of ever tapping it fully.

OSX is a bit like Windows in the regard that there's lots of layers everything has to pass through, which means lots of overhead. Linux is a bit better, which is why it's actually used for quite a few consoles.

The UMID mbook M1 is the closest you will get to the pandora form wise. Major disadvantages are the lack of dedicated gaming controls, lack of standard usb and audio jacks, perhaps less battery life and the fact it was sold exclusivity to South Korea.

But honestly, I think the x86 factor adds an insane plus to all of those problems, and since battery life is not excessively low (the reviewer claims 5 hours with wifi) the "DO WANT" factor is pretty damn high.

50% lower is quite a bit lower. In my case, 5 hours is about 5 hours too short.

My deal breaker was the 600$ of price tag that sadly is too much for me and felt a bit overpriced.

Heh... if I spent $600 on the Pandora, all the extra batteries would cover me for 120 hours.


I'm waiting, and waiting, because I want a Pandora. Nothing else fits my dream handheld. I have many plans for this device. First and foremost, it's going to save me buying a GPS, since I'll be loading lots of mapping stuff onto it. I'd also like to re-play a few old games I enjoyed, and try my hand at creating a few too.

 

[Sphinxter]

My interest is compounded bi-monthly.

 

[Loonie]

EDIT: fixed grammar, it said "blame the Craig"

I like "blame the Craig" better. Can you put it back?

 

[sdlvx]

The new iphone i believe has about the same hardware.

Please don't go nuts about game controls and whatnot. I just answered question 2. It is a fact it will not be the most powerful handheld device when it gets released.

Rofl. I always lurked in these forums watching Pandora, but I had to register to laugh at this clown.

Even if the iPhone had better hardware, the OS is a toy full of eye candy. Having an iPhone is like dating a dumb super model, yeah it's attractive and cool, but it's stupid, pretty useless, and a 2 year old can operate it.

I still, as a lurker, have not "loosed" (or lost) interest in the Pandora. I want to see how the final product looks before I buy one, but I fantasize about being able to play F-Zero, Earthbound, all sorts of Megamans, and N64 games, and browse the internet and run linux programs all in a device that fits in my cargo shorts. Honestly, it doesn't matter if some other company comes out with a unit twice as powerful, Pandora has the open source community behind it and the software that comes with it will always be unrivaled for functionality, features, and just sheer ass kickery.

You'd be an idiot to lose interest in the Pandora and this whole product. These people are making history. They've turned the development cycle for digital devices on it's head, and if it works out it's going to be amazing. Instead of having to write emails to idiot customer service reps because something doesn't work, or you want a feature, you can either talk to someone who can fix it or fix it yourself.

Pandora and it's philosophy is amazing. I'll never lose interest in it and I'll never lose respect for the developers and the forum members who have made such a product.

Comparing iPhone to Pandora is insulting to the Pandora, and you should feel embarassed for even considering it.

And yes, I've used iPhones and iTouches. Just stop and think for a minute, you can either have Apple's neutered and raped ghetto single-tasking BSD hack, or you can have a powerful OMAP3 CPU with a full OS, that's not neutered or raped or failed up with idiot animations and finger gestures to occupy idiots.

 

[fiori_musicali]

[ ... ]

-1 for condescending tone, pomposity, and generally distasteful delivery of essentially valid points

 

[Pleng]

Having an iPhone is like dating a dumb super model, yeah it's attractive and cool, but it's stupid, pretty useless, and a 2 year old can operate it.

I'd have to disagree with 'pretty useless'. Not on the iPhone, on the supermodel, that is!

 

[MrBlais]

I'm not "LOSING" interest; every day that goes by makes me want to play with it even more... I'm dying a bit on the inside

 

[torpor]

I haven't lost interest at all.

But I'm a developer - the most interesting thing about the Pandora (for me) is what I will do with it, code-wise. I can't wait to get a real 3D game engine going on it, I can't wait to write my first synth that puts the DSP to use, etc.

I can definitely understand the frustration of those consumers among us who just want a nice toy to play games with, though. For sure, this was a hard project to get involved in for that kind of kick.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll look back at this thread in a year and go .. "WTF?! How cool is it that we got through the project, and look at all the cool stuff happening with this device now!"

In the meantime, I will continue to stare longinly at the Atari Portfolio sitting on my desk, the WIZ in my bag, the iPhone charging on my desk, the DEV-G1 I use to take calls (and hack simple games together), and so on .. "one day, all you guys will have to deal with Pandora".