Dirty Secret

[juniorm33]

I realised the other day that I had this dirty secret.
My brother asked me what happened to that thing I ordered last year, every now and again he remembers about it and asks me.
I always hope's he doesn't.
I make excuses, explain the reasons, tell him I understand being a developer just how these things go, and look at any big project usually always at least a year late etc etc. I believe it all but still, rather him not ask until I have it there to show him and say look at this.......
I was one of the 3800(estimate) people who suffered in silence and just read the forums, but I decided to join up, participate and feel all the better for speaking to other people that are in the same situation as me. I've seen the boards go through the good times and bad, with what seemed like flaming every other post.
Thank you all, for welcoming me, and not leaving me to suffer in silence.

Yours,
A happier first batcher.

(Hopefully this wont kick of the flaming )

 

[verm71]

Last year, when my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas I said I already bought my own gift. And I proceeded to describe the state of the project.

Needless to say, the rolling of her eyes told me I should have just shut up and asked for a sweater.

 

[carlgeorge]

Yeah, the other two engineers at work keep asking where this device that I mentioned is. When I tell them they say that I've been taken-in by an internet scam.

 

[cbox]

The PSP guys at my work grow tired of me talking about the Pandora, they think its vapour ware.

 

[Pickle]

We dont have much longer ;-)

 

[neonfish]

I didn't tell anyone. I am ashamed for being scammed. /s

 

[-Tj-]

Glad you decided to come out of the woodwork.

... wait, what part was the dirty secret?

 

[borgqueenx]

i told alot of folks. Half of the people i told think i got scammed and they are holding it out for as long as possible, and a half of the other half dont care, and that other half says a bit interested but are jealeous enought o say their psp will be the best forever.

 

[CCmachined]

We dont have much longer ;-)

Don't be silly. We've always had a mere Two Months™

 

[WhiteBat]

just think of how many people you'll be able to muzzle after it ships

 

[truls_rhock]

I would like to see proof that people will even receive a Pandora hand held. If it is a business like any other business it receives invoices for its orders. Show us an invoice for something specific to the Pandora. An invoice for the CPUs, boards, case, or anything else specific to the Pandora, and things like LCDs and styluses are definitely not specific to the Pandora. It needs to contain the company name, an invoice number, a quantity, and the name of the part in question, but not the account number. People don't want to find out that money has been spent, lost, or stolen in some news report a few months from now. These delays are a sure sign that someone is cutting corners or covering a loss.

 

[maiden]

i just orderd a http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27904 to play with until i get my pandora
its cheep, but the smartQ V7 will support HD playback and probobly come before the pandora too.

people at campus asks about my pandora from time to time, but soon gets tired again because i can talk for hours about why there are delays ^_^
i love the delays, think about all the nice sarcasm, humor and lovely spirit of those forums

2 month TM, CONFIRMED:, and not to forget, best of all "i just think i went insane"
ah, almost forgot the "how black is black (choosing the best black for the pandora)" thread,
those are lovely times!


when i think about those forums, i cant stop to think about the games the same people will make.
how about a "The waiting for my pandora" game?
where the goal of the game is to get a pandora.

i have never ever had any doubts about Craigx and the rest of the devteam, (i am a relic from the old GP2X days)
i think i even bought my gp2x from craigx :S keep the good work gooing! and when this is done, send me your
bank account info or come to sweden, so i can give you some beer for your impressive work!

 

[Exophase]

I would like to see proof that people will even receive a Pandora hand held. If it is a business like any other business it receives invoices for its orders. Show us an invoice for something specific to the Pandora. An invoice for the CPUs, boards, case, or anything else specific to the Pandora, and things like LCDs and styluses are definitely not specific to the Pandora. It needs to contain the company name, an invoice number, a quantity, and the name of the part in question, but not the account number. People don't want to find out that money has been spent, lost, or stolen in some news report a few months from now. These delays are a sure sign that someone is cutting corners or covering a loss.

They've shown lots of pictures of purchased components, why would anyone want an invoice that could probably be more easily faked? We know they have the money for these parts because it was given to them, we know that what they've built the electrical components of the hardware because a number of people actually have it (myself included.. okay, had) and anyone with half a brain knows they stand to eventually make a ton more money by actually pushing this to market than by scamming people out of the first batch of money. Not to mention, if they did that gbax would probably lose a lot of sales.

I'm really surprised there's anyone who could even entertain the idea of it being a scam. If it fails it's going to be because of external factors, not because of fraud, but at this point it seems really unlikely for the project to go under. Not right before it's about to actually ship.

What the delays are a sign of is that several things have taken much longer than they thought they would. Products get delayed by long stretches all the time. That doesn't make this Phantom, much less a scam.

 

[DrCJBoduma]

I work in a school and the students often ask me about my pandora "have you got your pandora yet, sir?" Most of them think it's all a big con.

 

[truls_rhock]

I would like to see proof that people will even receive a Pandora hand held. If it is a business like any other business it receives invoices for its orders. Show us an invoice for something specific to the Pandora. An invoice for the CPUs, boards, case, or anything else specific to the Pandora, and things like LCDs and styluses are definitely not specific to the Pandora. It needs to contain the company name, an invoice number, a quantity, and the name of the part in question, but not the account number. People don't want to find out that money has been spent, lost, or stolen in some news report a few months from now. These delays are a sure sign that someone is cutting corners or covering a loss.

They've shown lots of pictures of purchased components, why would anyone want an invoice that could probably be more easily faked? We know they have the money for these parts because it was given to them, we know that what they've built the electrical components of the hardware because a number of people actually have it (myself included.. okay, had) and anyone with half a brain knows they stand to eventually make a ton more money by actually pushing this to market than by scamming people out of the first batch of money. Not to mention, if they did that gbax would probably lose a lot of sales.

I'm really surprised there's anyone who could even entertain the idea of it being a scam. If it fails it's going to be because of external factors, not because of fraud, but at this point it seems really unlikely for the project to go under. Not right before it's about to actually ship.

What the delays are a sign of is that several things have taken much longer than they thought they would. Products get delayed by long stretches all the time. That doesn't make this Phantom, much less a scam.

Pictures are pictures. With an invoice you can ask the company stated in the invoice if the order is real. We don't know how much money or how many orders OpenPandora has. They could state they have 1000 orders as easy as they can state they have 4000 orders or 1000000 orders. Having a prototype or preproduction device tells us nothing about how many devices they plan on making. Even if Craig himself believes everything is going correctly, he should make sure.

 

[Nation.A.List]

I would like to see proof that people will even receive a Pandora hand held. If it is a business like any other business it receives invoices for its orders. Show us an invoice for something specific to the Pandora. An invoice for the CPUs, boards, case, or anything else specific to the Pandora, and things like LCDs and styluses are definitely not specific to the Pandora. It needs to contain the company name, an invoice number, a quantity, and the name of the part in question, but not the account number. People don't want to find out that money has been spent, lost, or stolen in some news report a few months from now. These delays are a sure sign that someone is cutting corners or covering a loss.

Pictures are pictures. With an invoice you can ask the company stated in the invoice if the order is real. We don't know how much money or how many orders OpenPandora has. They could state they have 1000 orders as easy as they can state they have 4000 orders or 1000000 orders. Having a prototype or preproduction device tells us nothing about how many devices they plan on making. Even if Craig himself believes everything is going correctly, he should make sure.

If you don't like what you see, or in your case haven't seen, then cancel your order and bugger off. Go and buy something you can touch or can see an invoice for if that's what you want, and leave us to wait, albeit impatiently, for our Pandora's.

 

[WizardStan]

Pictures are pictures. With an invoice you can ask the company stated in the invoice if the order is real.

Any company that says one way or another whether an invoice is real or not is asking for legal trouble.
Look, you are not owed anything, not pictures or invoices or anything. If you've paid your money, then you are legally entitled to either a Pandora or a refund. Either wait patiently for your Pandora or request a refund, it's that simple.
If you haven't paid money yet, then you especially aren't owed anything. The first batch is effectively sold out, so they don't really need to convince anyone more to buy in, and once it actually ships, they'll have all the evidence they need for the doubters to buy into a second batch.
So explain to me why you need such proof?

 

[truls_rhock]

To Nation.a.List, don't ignore the warning signs.

To WizardStan, give an example of why a company stating an invoice is real or not is asking for legal trouble.

 

[rabidpoobear]

Pictures are pictures. With an invoice you can ask the company stated in the invoice if the order is real. We don't know how much money or how many orders OpenPandora has. They could state they have 1000 orders as easy as they can state they have 4000 orders or 1000000 orders. Having a prototype or preproduction device tells us nothing about how many devices they plan on making. Even if Craig himself believes everything is going correctly, he should make sure.

Puts on tinfoil hat
My god man, you're so right! Why hasn't anyone else proposed that this was a scam, and had multitudes of evidence stating why it couldn't possibly be, presented to them already?
Takes off hat
Oh, right, one, two, buckle my shoe.

 

[rabidpoobear]

To WizardStan, give an example of why a company stating an invoice is real or not is asking for legal trouble.

Company A is working on top-secret new device.
Company B uses corporate espionage to get a list of parts invoices but they know Company A has fake documents for moles to throw people off.
Company B calls all the companies and gets a list of which parts are real.
Now they know what parts are in Company A's device.
etc, etc, etc. If you were half as creative as you are with your conspiracy theories regarding Pandora I'm sure you could come up with a situation.
Besides, order data is not public knowledge, companies can't disclose it unless the other company approves it.
Besides how would you know they didn't just print a fake invoice and put ED's number on it so when you call to authenticate he picks up
and pretends to be the nub manufacturer and says it's all certified?