Are Some Of The First 105 Still Going To The Press?

[Azure]

I know a while back Craig (I believe; might have been some other member of the Pandora team) mentioned that some of the first 105 might be going to members of the press (Endgadget, etc.). Is this still the game plan? I personally hope not as I want my Pandora as soon as possible (and as one of the many that pre-ordered on day 1, I feel this isn't much to ask for).

I understand Craig is a business man and he has a right to want to send units to the press to generate more interest and $$$, but at this point I feel he has an obligation to satisfy a few thousand customers that put a lot of faith & trust (and $$$) in Craig & Co. Sure, it'll help generate interest, but I think at this point he should be more concerned about satisfying his existing customers than worrying about getting more customers. Something just bugs me about the idea of people in the press getting a Pandora before me, especially since I've been waiting patiently for over a year and trusted Craig & Co. with my money 14 months ago. I know people in the press get their hands on new pieces of tech before customers all the time, but I feel like this situation is different (unlike most other products, our early investment/pre-orders helped fund the production/development of the Pandora, and without us the Pandora wouldn't be where it is now).

The Pandora will not flop because sample units were not sent to the press (interest, pictures, videos, etc. will be generated by the 3800-strong customer base). I don't think units should be sent to the press until either after the initial 3800, or until production has ramped up and Craig & Co. are able to make Pandoras in large quantities (since right now it seems like there is a little bit of a bottleneck with the first 105, after which I believe it's supposed to be a few more weeks until the rest can be produced?).

What do you guys think?

 

[WhiteBat]

i don't think the software is mature enough yet. i say pass

 

[renwils]

I don't really care. I wouldn't want one, personally. Apparently there have been more minor revisions on top of the thorough testing that they've been through. Also, the 105 not going to customers would at most put my order one day later once manufacturing starts.

 

[Vorporeal]

You missed the major reason why they'd be sent to/reserved for the press - they'd rather not send a customer a board that has been that thoroughly tested. Most boards won't get the massive battery of tests that the 105 did. They're going to send the "used and abused" boards to the press instead of to customers. I'd rather not get a board which might have heavy wear on the NAND from testing.

 

[Trip]

You have to realise that sites like Engadget have also been with the project since the beginning and have contributed to the project by letting the general public know about it and bringing in more people for the pre-ordering. This has helped fund the production/development of the Pandora, and without them the Pandora wouldn't be where it is now

Why don't they deserve to get an early model for testing? especially when a good review of the Pandora would bring in a lot more people for the second batch.

 

[WizardStan]

I don't really care. I wouldn't want one, personally. Apparently there have been more minor revisions on top of the thorough testing that they've been through.

Proof? I consider myself pretty in the know, and I don't remember seeing anything of the sort.

 

[danielliu88888]

i'm with trip on this one

 

[WizardStan]

I think the best argument I can come up with is that it's not our decision. OpenPandora will do the thing that they feel is best for the continuation of the business.

 

[LuvClub]

You have to realise that sites like Engadget have also been with the project since the beginning and have contributed to the project by letting the general public know about it and bringing in more people for the pre-ordering. This has helped fund the production/development of the Pandora, and without them the Pandora wouldn't be where it is now

Why don't they deserve to get an early model for testing? especially when a good review of the Pandora would bring in a lot more people for the second batch.

I am not one of the first 100 who pre-ordered, but as I understand it quite a lot of people ordered from these forums on day one before these other sites even knew about the Pandora. I believe that these people pre-ordered with the belief that Pandoras would be sent out on a first come first serve basis. It should be up to these pre-orders to decide whether if they would be willing take one of the stress tested 105. If they prefer not to then it should be the next one in line.

If it is decided by Craig & Co that these 105 are really not suitable for paying customers then in my opinion they shouldn't be seen to be so eager to take this as an opportunity to promote themselves with news/web sites and create ill feeling among their customers, a lot of who have pre-ordered months in advance and have stated they are willing to take one of these machines.

I propose that they should mass email all pre-orderers giving them 1 week to respond and send out the 105 to those who respond based on their priority in the queue.

Even if sites as Engadget did help to promote Pandora should they get a machine before pre-orderers? What would be the minimum about of sales wholly due to that site distributing such news before they get sent a Pandora? 10? 20? 50? It would still be unfair to the pre-orderers. If it works like that then would anyone be able to jump to the front of the queue by getting a similar number of people to "say" they were the one who introduced them to the Pandora? If anyone is that desperate then I'm willing to them have my vote!

It should be our decision since we are the ones who have paid in advance to fund this venture. Otherwise if it is just what they feel is best then what stops them letting anyone jump to the front of the queue by paying say an extra £5?

 

[calc84maniac]

You have to realise that sites like Engadget have also been with the project since the beginning and have contributed to the project by letting the general public know about it and bringing in more people for the pre-ordering. This has helped fund the production/development of the Pandora, and without them the Pandora wouldn't be where it is now

Why don't they deserve to get an early model for testing? especially when a good review of the Pandora would bring in a lot more people for the second batch.

I am not one of the first 100 who pre-ordered, but as I understand it quite a lot of people ordered from these forums on day one before these other sites even knew about the Pandora. I believe that these people pre-ordered with the belief that Pandoras would be sent out on a first come first serve basis. It should be up to these pre-orders to decide whether if they would be willing take one of the stress tested 105. If they prefer not to then it should be the next one in line.

If it is decided by Craig & Co that these 105 are really not suitable for paying customers then in my opinion they shouldn't be seen to be so eager to take this as an opportunity to promote themselves with news/web sites and create ill feeling among their customers, a lot of who have pre-ordered months in advance and have stated they are willing to take one of these machines.

I propose that they should mass email all pre-orderers giving them 1 week to respond and send out the 105 to those who respond based on their priority in the queue.

Even if sites as Engadget did help to promote Pandora should they get a machine before pre-orderers? What would be the minimum about of sales wholly due to that site distributing such news before they get sent a Pandora? 10? 20? 50? It would still be unfair to the pre-orderers. If it works like that then would anyone be able to jump to the front of the queue by getting a similar number of people to "say" they were the one who introduced them to the Pandora? If anyone is that desperate then I'm willing to them have my vote!

It should be our decision since we are the ones who have paid in advance to fund this venture. Otherwise if it is just what they feel is best then what stops them letting anyone jump to the front of the queue by paying say an extra £5?

Oh come on. Once they start pumping out all the parts, assembling them, and shipping them, a dozen of them being sent to the press will add a delay of what - a couple hours at the most? It's nothing to make a big deal about.

 

[skeezix]

Lunatic is correct. I just happened to be chatting with mw (been awhile, wanted to say allo!), and he mentioned therewas some minor enhancements applied after the 105.. So IMHO best to not mix them with the MP genpop or folks might get confused/etc

jeff

 

[Vorporeal]

You have to realise that sites like Engadget have also been with the project since the beginning and have contributed to the project by letting the general public know about it and bringing in more people for the pre-ordering. This has helped fund the production/development of the Pandora, and without them the Pandora wouldn't be where it is now

Why don't they deserve to get an early model for testing? especially when a good review of the Pandora would bring in a lot more people for the second batch.

I am not one of the first 100 who pre-ordered, but as I understand it quite a lot of people ordered from these forums on day one before these other sites even knew about the Pandora.

<snip>

False - I actually heard about the project from a post on Engadget. That was when the second thread ("Our New Machine") was around 20 pages long. I've been here ever since.

 

[emil10001]

I'd heard about the project from several sites, engadget in early May '08 and I think sparkfun(?) months before that. So, my pre-order (in the first 10) was a direct result of coverage on engadget. That, in addition to other factors, e.g. excessive wear on the 103, makes me not mind if OP sends some units to the press first.

 

[jonlad1]

Lunatic is correct. I just happened to be chatting with mw (been awhile, wanted to say allo!), and he mentioned therewas some minor enhancements applied after the 105.. So IMHO best to not mix them with the MP genpop or folks might get confused/etc

jeff

Interesting....

Any body aware what those minor enhancements were?

 

[ThaDSman]

I first heard about the Pandora on Tehskeen news and DSOrganize IRC. Tehskeen added a whole new Pandora and Wiz category to their console news list (and they follow Wiz homebrew quite well), so that caught my attention I had to check it out.
BTW are they getting a Pandora?

 

[Exophase]

We're talking about 2-3% of the total first batch, do you really think that getting that number to customers is more important than spreading publicity and information for a device that many many people have been looking towards (but haven't yet ordered) for a long time?

Plus, I would take it that the plan is still to send some of those to developers too. Some who have put in a lot of work using prerelease boards and really could use a finalish unit to wrap things up on. And some who haven't really done anything yet but could use something to get things on. Not every important developer has ordered from the first batch because they were told they'd be getting one for free, and if they have to wait for the second batch that could hold back some things for several months.

Above all, if OP doesn't send any out it's really just going to make them look bad.

 

[Azure]

Oh come on. Once they start pumping out all the parts, assembling them, and shipping them, a dozen of them being sent to the press will add a delay of what - a couple hours at the most? It's nothing to make a big deal about.

And until then, send units to customers (and developers)? Also, if the OpenPandora crew planned on sending some of the stress-tested 105 to customers (in addition to developers & press) in the first place, I don't mind receiving one (I'm assuming they've deemed them good enough to give to customers). Though now that apparently "enhancements" have been made, I don't mind waiting for units outside of the initial 105.

Above all, if OP doesn't send any out it's really just going to make them look bad.

While this may be a moot point now (considering that "enhancements" have been made since the 105), tech blogs that have been covering the Pandora are aware of the "story so far" and how long customers have been waiting; would waiting until after the initial 105 to send units to the press really make OP look "bad"? I figure these tech blogs would be sympathetic to customers.

It just bugs me a little that we've been told to wait and wait over and over again, and we all entrusted OP with our money (and our patience?), and now that final Pandoras are finally coming out, we're being told to wait some more while they send units to the press (I don't mind units going to developers) to generate more interest (if this was a year ago, I wouldn't mind units going to the press at all, but I just feel like our units are long overdue).

 

[Creature XL]

OK, we now need 105 people who would pay for a new car and take a 4-year used one instead of the new one.
Why? Because they would have to wait one day less. So they only have waited 405 days and not 407 days.
Did I mention that the engine of the 105 used cars makes a strange noise when you drive on the high way?
This noise is gone in the other 3895 NEW cars.


PEOPLE WAKE UP!


And it was stated before, the press gets their Pandora for 1 or 3 days, maybe 7. then they have to send them back and they get send to others or maybe devs. And wouldn't you want to wait 2 days longer so devs could get their units first? Ofcourse only those devs who have ordered. When they receive their "ordered unit" they send back the used unit and it gets send to other devs or what ever.


PEOPLE WAKE UP!


</rant>


edit: typo

 

[Nation.A.List]

I guess a couple of units on loan to those who have followed it since day one would be fair and reasonable. BUT, bearing in mind the enforced delay in releasing 'Batch 2' (availability of parts) I'm not sure it's a good idea to stoke up a whole new load of interest in the Pandora and be faced with another round of "is it ready yet" or " ready in 2 months". I doubt the same % of people would wait it out like those of us in 'Batch 1' did, and as every month passes the odds of a rival device appearing increase.

 

[Kramy]

Hmm... doesn't bug me. You've waited this long - you can wait another week or two to make sure you don't get sub-par abused hardware.

Meanwhile, it doesn't matter if Engadget gets one where the NAND dies in three months from all the flashing. They get to do their review, and they get a free unit to play with.

If they keep some of the 105 as spares for RMA, then more customers can get theirs from the 3895.