Does pandora need better marketing?

[xiongxioi]

Engineers and all the speciallists would not buy a device for $600 just to play diablo 2. We need to get the message across that this is a device for all the serious people and professionals.

I agree, but you're the one that brought up how any theoretical successor probably wouldn't be able to play '98 era games. I simply pointed out that the P1Ghz is almost capable of playing them using software rendering, and that suggesting the P2 would "not likely" be able to is extremely pessimistic.

My bad, I know nothing besides making cookies. I get that impression from the few netbooks I have. I made a big assumption, sorry.

If this gen's A15 can theoretically run D2, why nobody has ever done it? I would buy anything that gives me a decent portable D2 experience.  

 

[Asiyura]

If it's planned to market the pandora as a "field tool" or "walkman", there are some improvements to do on the pandora itself, imho.

• Battery door. Lot of people reports battery door with cracks and broken tabs. Mine is cracked around one of the tabs, I know that it'll break, I don't know when but it will.
• Paint is chipping away with time and use.
• Screen tabs tend to pop out and mess with the screen's touch layer.
• Original stylus is awful out-of the box. You have to rub the tip on paper before first use to prevent scratching the screen. (a stylus with replaceable tip would be awesome, like Wacom styli)
• The hinge allows only two positions, closed or open, an intermediate one would be useful for "on-field" usage.
  When closed, the right side of the screen comes in contact with the case while the left side is a millimetre higher. Making the pandora a nice dust trap.
• To be used as a walkman, a wired remote control with stereo jack would useful. Like it was done for many MP3 "jukebox" players.
  Back when I used my MP3 player daily, I crammed my the player in my backpack, the wired remote clipped to my jacket and my earphones plugged into the remote. I had every button I needed on the remote, and the screen allowed me to navigate easily in the menus and musics.
  EXT port has GPIO and audio out, so it's not a pipe dream
  
  
• EDIT : I forgot something! Screen's bezel makes the very first border pixels inaccessible with the stylus (discovered that because I have activated auto-hide on bottom panel, usually I use nubs mouse mode, but when I want to be fast, I use stylus)

The pandora is a really nice device, but I think its case need to be more rugged to be sold as a professional tool, that can also be a high-end music player, that can also play a lot of retro games with real controls.

And it would be nice to have a "future-proof" way of making firmware, but for that aTc needs help (from experienced people) with .next dev.

 

[thatgui]

There is no bad publicity. I think. Insiders will forgive all its flaws. Outsiders will bring in more cash and speed up its perfection.

There is nothing on the market that's like Pandora. I couldn't for the life of me find a machine that can do so many and yet cost so little. To all the companies out there, 600 bucks on some equipent is not a lot.

I have not very fond memories of several negative reviews not so long ago - I doubt they don't had/have a negative impact on sales. Most of these reviewers did not quite understand the concept of the Pandora.

 

[CocoCreekFisherman]

I am sure I will get a lot of slack for this statement but I always think of the OpenPandora as a demo//prototype machine ...even still.

I really enjoy using it on a daily basis and have no regrets purchasing it but I still hold it in that light.

 

[ShleeDragon]

I messaged ED recently and said we should have some kind of milestone event of goodnews.

* production working healthy.

* 1000 packages in the repo.

* 5000ish units in peoples hands.

We should have an event and try to get some press for that.

 

[Rockthesmurf]

It is interesting reading some of the reasons people prefer to use the Pandora (web browsing, gaming for example) as I would wager that the majority of people in the world would prefer the web browsing or gaming experience on say an iPhone 3GS (which has since been superseded with the iPhone4, iPhone4S, iPhone5 and probably soon an iPhone5S). I'm not saying anyone is 'wrong' to say the Pandora offers a better experience here, just that different users will have different interpretations of what is better. This isn't necessarily a problem; around the world there hopefully is quite a lot of people that will like the Pandora for what it is (and prefer it to an iPhone for a lot of tasks) and find the price tag reasonable, just how many people that is, and how 'mainstream' the device can ever be is a question mark.

I agree with some of the comments about the device being 'prototype'; for the typical Pandora user, it is a highly usable device, very much cherished and loved. But if you talk about a more casual user (only ever known iOS devices for instance) I think they'd think the Pandora is a joke, or an early prototype a best.

So in summary, great device for the right market, hopefully there is a good amount more market out there than currently has the device, but the market has definite limits, the vast majority of people will (possibly sadly) never want a Pandora.

 

[Franko]

So in summary, great device for the right market, hopefully there is a good amount more market out there than currently has the device, but the market has definite limits, the vast majority of people will (possibly sadly) never want a Pandora.

Agreed.  We already have 5,000+ Pandoras out there now and from the polls here that I've seen, the vast majority of P1 owners would purchase a P2.  Now, you make that next product even more powerful, polished and backwards-compatible with the vast P1 library?  I really think that you'll have a winner.  The major manufacturers just don't seem to be interested in breaking into this niche which the Pandora has.  So many UMPCs have come and gone, and now that we heavy steady leadership and good morale/support as a community, the sky is the limit.

Don't compare the proverbial "sky" that I used as a place that shares direct competition with companies like Apple, Samsung, Sony, etc....nor any other company that makes cell phones,tablets or laptops.  I can just see a scenario where the OP Team produces an improved "P2", sells 5,000 "P2's" at $500-$600 each, with a production cost of about $300 and pockets a million dollars as profit...but then I'm an optimist.  

 

[xiongxioi]

There is no bad publicity. I think. Insiders will forgive all its flaws. Outsiders will bring in more cash and speed up its perfection.


There is nothing on the market that's like Pandora. I couldn't for the life of me find a machine that can do so many and yet cost so little. To all the companies out there, 600 bucks on some equipent is not a lot.

I have not very fond memories of several negative reviews not so long ago - I doubt they don't had/have a negative impact on sales. Most of these reviewers did not quite understand the concept of the Pandora.

I wouldn't go that far. Many of the dingoonity community compeletely despise Dr. Ashens for his A320 review, but I thought that review was alright, and I got myself a dingoo after watching that. In the short life cycle of any electronic products, selling a lot in the early stage really mean something. Sure, pandora has a few reviews that jumped to the conclusion a bit too fast, but there are people who only read reviews on those sites. If they are interested, that review will encourage them to do a bit of research after.

I doubt anyone who can get their enjoyment from retro gaming would be that rich to just buy any brandless 500 bucks device without doing any proper investigation.

The more important message here is, the need to bring more people on board. We need to sell more to get better socs, and lower the production cost, since TI and many other companies have stopped selling their chips in small quantity. Producing anything less than 500 a batch is costly. Pandora is already powerful enough for many engineering calculations. If we can get us in their target range, it's basically free money. Most of them are not very interested in gaming from my experience.

 

[Franko]

^ You keep contradicting your own points.

Sure, pandora has a few reviews that jumped to the conclusion a bit too fast, but there are people who only read reviews on those sites.

 Sometimes I don't get your POV....help me to understand where you're coming from.

 

[Franko]

There is no bad publicity. I think. Insiders will forgive all its flaws. Outsiders will bring in more cash and speed up its perfection.


There is nothing on the market that's like Pandora. I couldn't for the life of me find a machine that can do so many and yet cost so little. To all the companies out there, 600 bucks on some equipent is not a lot.

I have not very fond memories of several negative reviews not so long ago - I doubt they don't had/have a negative impact on sales. Most of these reviewers did not quite understand the concept of the Pandora.

The more important message here is, the need to bring more people on board. We need to sell more to get better socs, and lower the production cost, since TI and many other companies have stopped selling their chips in small quantity. Producing anything less than 500 a batch is costly. Pandora is already powerful enough for many engineering calculations. If we can get us in their target range, it's basically free money. Most of them are not very interested in gaming from my experience.

I agree with a lot of that.  Engineers will still want the programs that they use, to be ported to the Pandora, so that they can use it as a functional work-related portable device.  The way that our talented developers port software now is impressive.


I know a lot of architects and engineers, and one of them showed me what can be done with an Android app of AutoCAD on a Samsung Note 2.  I was amazed at the speed and how he was zooming in on the 3D view of it all.  I showed him MY portable device and he was equally amazed that I had a full version of AutoSCAD.  It's a smaller screen, but I think I sold him on it anyway.  He said, but yeah, that's an entire computer there.  He didn't want to risk "jail breaking" his phone until the payments were  done...but the point was made.


Do we really need to sell more to get better SOCs?  Are you talking about selling more P1's to get better availability for a "P2"?  ED and GC working together have a lot of pull and credibility (IMO)...they might get great deals on future SOCs.  I wouldn't at all be surprised by that. We need to ALL stand behind the OP Team and give support where we can - donations are good...and buying certain products from DragonBox or Link's store (in the US)...and now in Japan - with Ekianjo.  Even us being here and being vocal is a testament to our interest.  That goes somewhere....hopefully a long way.

 

[patrick295767]

Sure Pandora marketing could be better

The marketing, compared to Ubuntu one, might be better. definitely.

Look Ubuntu, even with whatever issues they had, they are capable to sell/make it known.

(I am not an Ubuntu fan. Prefer conv. distros)

 

[Klumpen]

Yes, but as it is a community-project after all, the marketing is at least partially up to us.

I should do more of it myself, but at least I do not complain.

Currently I am playing Grandia 1 again on it in HiRes with proper headphones to enjoy the orchestral soundtrack.

Have to show this around a bit but do not know anyone that is interested at all in gaming anymore in my area.

All the great JRPGs for PSX and SNES are great for marketing.

Breath of Fire 1-4, Grandia, Star Ocean 1+2, Tales of Phantasia/whatever, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Final Fantasy 1-9, Seiken Densetsu 2/3, Persona 1/2, most Zeldas etc...

should be visible in a video, because they look, sound and play much better than on all of my other systems, including the originals.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

We need to make a really cool commercial for the Pandora and broadcast into people's home like TVs, Magazines, newspapers, etc.  Words of mouth don't go very far, imho.  Lots of bad gadgets, even if they get on TVs, boom they are sold like millions.  They say if you put anything on TV these days, it becomes famous. 

OK now head over here and voice you desire for a P2 Donation Fund 

 

[CocoCreekFisherman]

We need to make a really cool commercial for the Pandora and broadcast into people's home like TVs, Magazines, newspapers, etc.  Words of mouth don't go very far, imho.  Lots of bad gadgets, even if they get on TVs, boom they are sold like millions.  They say if you put anything on TV these days, it becomes famous. 

OK now head over here and voice you desire for a P2 Donation Fund 

That is why I started a Shark Tank thread. Great exposure either way.

 

[Ziz]

We need to make a really cool commercial for the Pandora and broadcast into people's home like TVs, Magazines, newspapers, etc.

I think you misunderstood the whole pandora concept. The pandora isn't for everyone, most people are better off with smartphones or similar. However, ED did advertising on exhibition and in computer magazines.

Don't forget: Advertising costs money! Especially in TV...

 

[ekianjo]

We need to make a really cool commercial for the Pandora and broadcast into people's home like TVs, Magazines, newspapers, etc.  Words of mouth don't go very far, imho.  Lots of bad gadgets, even if they get on TVs, boom they are sold like millions.

Word of mouth can go very far if the product is affordable and has value. The Raspberry Pi sold tons just by word of mouth. It had no marketing budget.

The Pandora is very useful but is way too expensive to expect selling well. No amount of commercials will change that fact, since most people will never spend that amount of money without thinking 10 times about it.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

We need to make a really cool commercial for the Pandora and broadcast into people's home like TVs, Magazines, newspapers, etc.  Words of mouth don't go very far, imho.  Lots of bad gadgets, even if they get on TVs, boom they are sold like millions.

Word of mouth can go very far if the product is affordable and has value. The Raspberry Pi sold tons just by word of mouth. It had no marketing budget.

The Pandora is very useful but is way too expensive to expect selling well. No amount of commercials will change that fact, since most people will never spend that amount of money without thinking 10 times about it.

+1 for the expensive part and that's what scare people to even want to try how good it is.

 

[patrick295767]

We need to make a really cool commercial for the Pandora and broadcast into people's home like TVs, Magazines, newspapers, etc.  Words of mouth don't go very far, imho.  Lots of bad gadgets, even if they get on TVs, boom they are sold like millions.  They say if you put anything on TV these days, it becomes famous. 

OK now head over here and voice you desire for a P2 Donation Fund 

To show the pandora at 8pm on a national channel would be a nice marketing step

But you would get more money if you sell office stuffs as well as gaming.