Craigx Twitter Update Cases This Weekend!

[Sphinxter]

It's actually more to do with the fact the press won't get the keep them and we need to remove the 'vaporware' myth. It's likely we will use the well tested boards in them - I'd rather not give them to customers.

I for one am glad to hear it, would much rather have a virgin and there is a whole lot of naysaying that must be silenced.

 

[PoisonedV]

I'm sorry... but I want mine now. Forget the press. They can get theirs later. Can't you give us faithful people what we deserve first? I mean if you have those first few prototypes lying around then give the "press" those. But please give your customers, who have been waiting for over a year, with $300 missing out of their pocket book a Pandora! :angry:

Yeah, forgot the "press" (I put it in quotation marks, can we ever really be SURE they are this so called 'press'???)

 

[emil10001]

It's actually more to do with the fact the press won't get the keep them and we need to remove the 'vaporware' myth. It's likely we will use the well tested boards in them - I'd rather not give them to customers.

I for one am glad to hear it, would much rather have a virgin and there is a whole lot of naysaying that must be silenced.

I would still like to know what press coverage, done in the way that Craig is suggesting, buys the OP team. If there is a good reason for doing it, and there are actual benefits that require them to do it this way, as opposed to letting the users get theirs first then that's fine. But, I would really like to hear the reasoning, because, again, I feel like I posted some really good reasons not to go for the press coverage first.

Also, the vaporware thing is really a poor argument, as there will be plenty of evidence, via youtube and flickr posts, that the pandoras are shipping to customers. Sending units to the press doesn't really make it not vaporware, since it still hasn't been shipped to us.

 

[Game_over]

The amount of time the press has a device is limited. They would be borrowing it, not keeping it. And those would use test boards. I agree with the argument of holding them off until we get our units, but giving press a hands on with a preview unit can happen earlier then we receive our's from UPS/Airmail. Hell, they can happen with the very first ones, Chip (if he is still around) could drop by the Engadget Show, and do a quick preview.

EDIT: ^ Giving Press a unit to review is completely pointless without plenty of content out of the box (to some of you guys point), but letting them borrow an unit for even 30 minutes (which is the norm for most hardware- according to my press friends)to test the form and basic functionality, and maybe another 30 for pics and screen grabs would suffice. Again this can happen way earlier than when the end users (us) would sign the package slip and let are units charge.

 

[Dead1nside]

Aren't we jumping the gun a bit here? These are the test samples, if all is great then the OK is given to manufacture the finals. They still have to be shipped to the US, the boards still have to be manufactured and it all has to be assembled. Not forgetting all the little things like silk screening and power adaptors, and the at least slightly longer delay in shipping them back over the Atlantic.

This is a great step and it does mean that the team can make near-final units with the 105 boards that were manufactured for testing and presumably the first run of cases along with these samples if they're all good to give a great *near-final* impression of the finished product.

However, from the sounds of things, some people think we might be receiving them in a couple of weeks. Not true? Certainly getting closer but still a list of things to do, albeit much smaller things now, bar assembly and shipping.

 

[musicalwoods]

I don't think it is a "give to the press" or "give to consumers" question here as it seems like Craigix doesn't want to use the burn-in boards in customer Pandoras. I think the option is more "temporarily give to the press" or "hold indefinitely as excess units".

 

[emil10001]

I really have the cases in mind, not the burn in boards. Also, if you read my previous post, there's something to do with timing that i think is important.

 

[atomicthumbs]

I for one am glad to hear it, would much rather have a virgin

I'm just going to leave this here

 

[skeezix]

I tell ya, using a screwdriver to tap on a pcb s driving me insane. This is going to be a good Christmas

Dallas.. Damn!

jeff

 

[skeezix]

Guess I should start makng coding entries in the publc wiki sOon... Urgh

 

[ben_dash]

People in the Dallas area are welcome to come and help us build these as they come off the production line (as long as we get permission), it would speed things up.

I am in the Dallas area and would be delighted to help build the cases. I wish I had taken the time to be more involved in the software side early on but if I can help in some way now then please let me know; I have plenty of screwdriver experience and am willing to put it to good use ;-)

 

[elinscheid]

Do you all remember when Apple produced the first run of Macintosh computers? Didn't people sign their names on the inside of the cases?

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to have Craig and company sign their names on the device in some way. That would make things extra special.

 

[DuaneG]

People in the Dallas area are welcome to come and help us build these as they come off the production line (as long as we get permission), it would speed things up.

I am also in the Dallas area and would be happy to lend a hand if it can speed up delivery to such a patient group of folks!

 

[timofonic]

This is my way of thinking of the order must have the Pandora project:

- A big bunch of free units to devs that deserve it, full functional Pandoras even if having minor aesthetic issues.
- Satisfy the first batch of customers totally, plus maybe some extra selling of spare ones.
- Promoting development quite aggresively, tons of cool emulators and games plus amazing tech demos and some demoscene.
- Be totally ready for a big second batch.
- Get media attention in an very aggresive way: important blogs, digg, youtube, retrocomputing/retrogaming sites and events, FOSS sites and events, electronic hobbyists, guerrilla marketing in form on easy to print ads with your printer and put in strategic zones (computer shops, retro events, it/electronics zones schools...).
- Third batch?
- Pandora getting mass media attention?
- Pandora conquering the world?
...
- PROFIT!

 

[cobaltage]

I for one think using the burn-in boards to send Pandoras for press reviews is a good use of them. The Pandora remains a one-of-a-kind device despite the delays, but we're also seeing a lot of devices with similar internal components coming out on the market as smartphones (Nokia N900, et al.) and internet tablets over the next few months. It's a critical time to draw attention to the Pandora. Once the press realizes the device is actually done and available by the thousands (in the 2nd run), it will gain a lot of interest that has been built up in anticipation of the whole platform and chipset. It would really be the perfect time for press reviews if they appeared before the end of the year, and before the holiday season.

Also, if those boards went to the very first customers who ordered, it's kind of not cool. They've put in time and had a lot of patience throughout the project, and IMO they shouldn't get the testing boards as a reward for that.

Anyway, I'm excited and would help if I lived in Dallas. But I don't.

 

[xweb]

Just wanted to show off the signature inspired by this thread. see below.

 

[emil10001]

I for one think using the burn-in boards to send Pandoras for press reviews is a good use of them. The Pandora remains a one-of-a-kind device despite the delays, but we're also seeing a lot of devices with similar internal components coming out on the market as smartphones (Nokia N900, et al.) and internet tablets over the next few months. It's a critical time to draw attention to the Pandora. Once the press realizes the device is actually done and available by the thousands (in the 2nd run), it will gain a lot of interest that has been built up in anticipation of the whole platform and chipset. It would really be the perfect time for press reviews if they appeared before the end of the year, and before the holiday season.

Also, if those boards went to the very first customers who ordered, it's kind of not cool. They've put in time and had a lot of patience throughout the project, and IMO they shouldn't get the testing boards as a reward for that.

Anyway, I'm excited and would help if I lived in Dallas. But I don't.

I don't think anybody is against sending the press test run boards. However, as stated, I really think that customers should be sent their units first. Then, pick a good time, when there aren't other gadgets being launched that are hogging the spotlight, like the Droid, or n900, and then start trying for the press attention. The gadget blogs will be picking up the pandora anyways because there will be users posting videos and pics. To me, this is the better way to handle it, since I just don't see the point in getting a lot of attention on a product that no-one can buy and a community that's quite frustrated.

I for one will not be happy if I load up engadget one morning to find out that they've received a unit for review, but mine still hasn't been built yet. I can imagine that there would be a lot of upset members on this board if something like this actually happened. So, I would just hope that the team think very hard about where they send these first units, and the message that they want to send to their customers and the rest of the world.

Once again, if I thought that there was something tangible to gain by sending it to the press before the users, then I really wouldn't have much of a problem with it. But, to me it seems that they have something to lose by rushing the media attention.

Edit: Also wanted to mention that the space that the pandora occupies is quite unique, and isn't really competing on the same level as the n900. The n900 is a phone, this is not. This is a gaming device, the n900 is not. I think that people who are interested in a portable non-phone platform will be quite interested in this over a lot of the other choices.

 

[Game_over]

I have to agree with that, But at the same time there is nothing wrong with the showing the press a test unit (fully assembled MP test unit), as when that unit(s) would be used for final CE/FCC testing anyways; that unit would be made before we receive our own anyway. It would be killing multiple birds with a boomerang(as my drunk friend would say).

But since this is a community project, I would put the longstanding community before any outside source.

 

[emil10001]

I have to agree with that, But at the same time there is nothing wrong with the showing the press a test unit (fully assembled MP test unit), as when that unit(s) would be used for final CE/FCC testing anyways; that unit would be made before we receive our own anyway. It would be killing multiple birds with a boomerang(as my drunk friend would say).

But since this is a community project, I would put the longstanding community before any outside source.

Ok, but what I'm saying is satisfy the customers first. Before the press. Because we were the ones who paid for this thing a year ago, and we have been waiting patiently. I just think that it would be disrespectful to us, the customers, if we do not get preferential treatment over the press. Especially when, as I have pointed out, there is really nothing to gain from sending the press the first units (after the devs), as opposed to sending them after the customer orders are filled.

 

[gruso]

I see where you're coming from emil, but I think there are two separate issues getting mixed together:

1. Press being given priority over paying customers

2. Potential negative effect of early press coverage (influx of 2nd batch hopefuls, supply not meeting demand etc)

Point #1 isn't really an issue, because there won't be any of the 3895 "virgin" boards ready to send to customers anyway. The 105 are sitting there though. I don't think sending a few of those out is disrespectful to customers.

Point #2 probably needs to be looked at by OP Ltd. I'd certainly hate to see a few thousand new people saying "great, the first batch waited for a year, now we have to as well." That's all very hypothetical though. At the end of the day, they'll choose what's best for their company.

The important thing is that the 3895 are sent straight out to customers.