Does The Openpandora Team Need To Communicate More?

[Esn]

Two quotes that I agree with:

I think they do a good job. You have to remember that the Pandora team is only a couple of people. I'm sure they are very busy and probably also have other commitments outside of the Pandora project.

We seem to have a paradox forming here.

The more work they do, the lower the perception of work being done. The more perception is raised of work being done, less work is done...

The Big List Of Official Dev Team Updates is enough for me. Another issue entirely is that it hasn't been updated since Sept. 14, but I'm just assuming that this is because things are really entering the home stretch now and there will be a ton of info revealed once the pressure levels off.

 

[Fishbong]

I think the Ccommunication is great, with craig answering a lot of questions etc.

But what i kinda miss is news.

 

[JerryG20]

Two quotes that I agree with:

I think they do a good job. You have to remember that the Pandora team is only a couple of people. I'm sure they are very busy and probably also have other commitments outside of the Pandora project.

We seem to have a paradox forming here.

The more work they do, the lower the perception of work being done. The more perception is raised of work being done, less work is done...

The Big List Of Official Dev Team Updates is enough for me. Another issue entirely is that it hasn't been updated since Sept. 14, but I'm just assuming that this is because things are really entering the home stretch now and there will be a ton of info revealed once the pressure levels off.

Is "once the pressure levels off" before or after the pre-order date? This is the issue. Craig said that there'd be lots of media & updates building up to the Pandora's pre-order, and now it's been almost 2 weeks since a Dev Team Update according to that thread (little tidbits were posted by Ed/Craig in the forums, but 2 weeks since an update that can account for Craig's "building up to pre-orders").

 

[Username]

For a small team, they do a great job of releasing info. In a company like Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony, the people that send out newsletters are hired solely for the purpose of sending out newsletters, same goes for people hired to keep the blog up-to-date. The Pandora dev team does not have the time to do production and release news consistently, which makes 48.54% of you inconsiderate.

 

[cosurgi]

What do you want to know and I'll try and answer it tonight?

Fist - I'm really thankful for those 2 hours on the forum. It's a lot given how much work you have.

Question - what keyboard layout will you use on Pandora?

I'm extremely curious, given how much I work I dedicated to discussion on it, and designing different variants with Kagato and others.

 

[lubidog]

So, this 'intelligent' poll. I want to vote No-they do not need to communicate more, and then I HAVE to say how I want them to communicate more...

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

Agreed, this is the most awesome project since you were born, and it's because you had more than a smidgin of a say in its development!

 

[JerryG20]

For a small team, they do a great job of releasing info. In a company like Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony, the people that send out newsletters are hired solely for the purpose of sending out newsletters, same goes for people hired to keep the blog up-to-date. The Pandora dev team does not have the time to do production and release news consistently, which makes 48.54% of you inconsiderate.

The level/quality/consistencey of information we want is nowhere near that of Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony. Please stop making these useless comparisons. You guys make it sound like we want so much. Like somebody said earlier, it only take a few minutes to update a blog or snap a few good quality pictures of parts (D-Pad, keypad keys, shoulder buttons, etc.).

 

[chris_r]

I don't see why everyone is getting all pissy about getting more updates. I think the pandora team has given us more info than other companies ever do on their devices.

You've all seen videos of the pandora running. You know the components and specs of it. You've seen pictures of the circuitry. You know all about the pre-order dates, the number of devices being manufactured. and when.

I mean seriously, how much more information can you people really need. You just all act like the device is going to become vapourware if you don't see at least one new picture every few days.
Just stop it and let the pandora team get on with it. They've already done an amazing job as it is.

 

[jaycee900]

Damn, I said I'd try not to post for a while...

I spend at least 2 hours on here every day trying to answer everything I can, what do you want to know and I'll try and answer it tonight?

I think this is a serious fault. A lot of the answers that are on the forums are posted deep in comment threads, instead of up front where every one reads them first before posting. They're difficult to find even with the search function.

There's a reason why people keep asking the same questions over and over again: The system isn't working. People aren't checking some universal source for info before posting. Forums are a poor way of aggregating and communicating data. The repetitive posting has turned the tone of the forums sour; responses to questions from newbies are met with harsh sarcasm or anger.

I believe this might be because of the structure of the main page of gp32x.de: The most recent posts are listed, stickies are lost, and all people see is the general confusion and loss of information. A link to the main FAQ that answers 90% of the questions, and a link to a techie FAQ that answers the other 90% of the questions should be on the front page, in bold, obvious to be clicked on before anything remotely close to a "post here" button.

I'd prefer if craig and others didn't take 2 hours a day to answer questions here, but rather take 30 minutes to read most of the posts, and give us a daily update, and let *us* the rabid user base answer the easy questions and *grow* the fanbase, rather than keep it restricted and keep the less informed of our geekdom away with scary "search the forums, retard" toned posts

*unplugs keyboard*.

Well said.....the exact trouble with forums being used for posting news or usual information is that it gets lost as fast as it gets posted....some threads on here are getting closed for no reasonable reason other than it was posted 3 months ago' you should have searched for it' when its not easy and people shouldnt have to search for important information if they are interested in buying a £200 machine, then it should be more easy to find, and yes the f.a.q is stickied but doesnt contain all the info and pre-order stuff etc
This community feels more take than give imo and as the above posted said any newbies coming here and mostly shouted at and in some cases wont be coming back with the responses they get....get over yourselfs, this is a forum not a bloody final copy of an authors book, wow 2 threads the same, so what!? they will disappear with a week into the realms of people moaning about something else!
There was one thread closed the other day with people having a right laugh but it went slightly off topic and it got closed!? so what? whats happened to this forum? i think the staff need a sense of humour and stop being so serious all the time!

 

[paddy]

I do agree more info would help on the forum and pictures and video would also be great
but general text updates are all thats really required ,they are more factual and keeps everyone
in the know.So its understandable that some will have questions with no real answer and
i myself have asked a few questions that have already been answered elsewhere but simply
didnt find them when i DID look out this info so i would say the forum needs to be regulated
better than it is currently.

The dev team that are working hard to get this amazing device to us have their work cut
out and are doing a great job ,this issue with questions woulc/could be easily fixed out
if a valued member of the forum acted as the middleman to relay all the daily progress
thats being done ,tho i dont expect to hear something new everyday as i am sure the dev
guys have a life as well and need a break.

Though i do feel like the dev guys are being in a way ,harrassed to come up with info,pics and vids
to keep everyone happy ,i also feel that well yeh they should do these things anyway,but
of course through someone on the forum ,the reason i say there should be plenty of updates
is that in the end they are offering a product and like it or not they need to keep everyone interested
and also like it or not need to keep the dream alive.

I hope no ill feelings to anyone here and i wish everyone involved with pandora the best
wishes ,i cant wait to get my pandora ,when its ready its ready.

 

[Username]

The level/quality/consistencey of information we want is nowhere near that of Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony. Please stop making these useless comparisons. You guys make it sound like we want so much. Like somebody said earlier, it only take a few minutes to update a blog or snap a few good quality pictures of parts (D-Pad, keypad keys, shoulder buttons, etc.).

The quality of the end-product is going to be up there with Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, so my comparison DID make sense. Would you prefer a great product but little pre-release news/photos or a mediocre product with tons of news and photos? If it is going to be updated, it'll be when they get around to it.

 

[Chip]

Chip has an encyclopedic knowledge already; he could do it. ashdjones has volunteered. Get one of the people blogging about it anyway - they'd love exclusive access. Hell, get Chad to do it even.

I already have "exclusive access", if that's what you want to call it. Honestly, you're not missing anything. The devs need a place to bat ideas around and work out system issues without the peanut gallery chiming in and burying the real work in nonsense, and that's what it is. But every time somebody comes up with something major, it gets posted out in public almost immediately. The only time there is any delay is when things really aren't ready for public viewing.

So if you ask a question and nobody knows the answer, that's probably because nobody knows the answer.

Even Craig.

When you've got ten thousand things to do, you can't possibly do them all at once. A lot of them have to go into the "we'll sort that out when we get there" category. A lot of things that you think are important are either A. not really that important compared to everything else that has to be dealt with, or B. are things that chronologically have to come after other things happen, and those other things haven't happened yet. Even now, only a few days from pre-order, things like the keyboard layout or whether or not the case will be shiny are not very high on the list of things which need to be sorted out.

The last time people started bitching about the lack of updates, I started the Official Dev Updates thread (proving that they were already getting the very updates they were clamoring for), and they shut up. Now people are bitching about the "lack of updates" again. I'll admit that there haven't been a ton of updates in the last couple weeks, but there legitimately hasn't been much to say. What do you want me to do, make stuff up?

 

[TJSomething]

I know that a working fully-built prototype is out of the question, but an up-to-date render from every angle seems like a good compromise.

 

[argor]

well i don't thing they need give any more info there is plenty of info in web rite now like the incomplete pandora linux kernel http://github.com/djwillis/linux-omap-pand...ux-omap3pandora u-boot http://github.com/djwillis/u-boot-omap-pandora/tree/master x-loader http://github.com/djwillis/x-loader-omap-pandora/tree/master

 

[JerryG20]

The level/quality/consistencey of information we want is nowhere near that of Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony. Please stop making these useless comparisons. You guys make it sound like we want so much. Like somebody said earlier, it only take a few minutes to update a blog or snap a few good quality pictures of parts (D-Pad, keypad keys, shoulder buttons, etc.).

The quality of the end-product is going to be up there with Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, so my comparison DID make sense.

Would you prefer a great product but little pre-release news/photos or a mediocre product with tons of news and photos? If it is going to be updated, it'll be when they get around to it.


1. Where'd you get your time machine? I'm not saying that the quality won't be up there, but I can't say that it will since I (and you, and everybody else in the world) have not seen the final product.

2. I still don't understand how your comparison made sense just because you think the quality of the Pandora will be up to par with products from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.

3. Who says that a great product and lots of pre-release news/photos are mutually exclusive? This is another common thing I've noticed said by people who say we have gotten more than enough information. Craig already spends 2 hours a day on here. Does that mean that the Pandora will now end up being a mediocre product? Of course not. It only takes a few minutes to update a blog.

You better tell Craig to stop coming here 2 hours a day if you want the Pandora to be anything more than mediocre :rolleyes:

 

[zxxgp]

I think the Pandora devs to a great job of communicating with the community. They may not post a lot on the blog but they talk a lot with us in the forums.

 

[closer013]

How come "leave them alone already" isn't a voting option?

 

[Frogboy]

I'm not sure what you guys who want more information are looking for. They've pretty much told us everything that was happening as it was happening. I don't recall hearing anything besides false rumors about the next version of the GP2X until they announced the Wiz about a month ago. Okay, I did see someone leak an image of the Wiz a couple of weeks before that but the point is that most of us at least, didn't know if Gamepark Holdings was going to release a new system or just do another revision to the GP2X. That's fine. There's no rule that says that a company has to come out and tell you anything really but I feel that the Pandora team has been much more open than most.

 

[rokdcasbah]

There's a reason why people keep asking the same questions over and over again: The system isn't working. People aren't checking some universal source for info before posting.

There's no reason why some of you can't go update the wiki, if that's the problem. But I think the real reason for the dupes is that people are dumb.

This forum is the most sympathetic and understanding group of consumers the Pandora will ever have, and I think it would be a huge mistake to alienate any of them when this is so easily fixed.

This is the most melodramatic nonsense I have seen in quite some time. You guys need to cool it with the veiled threats / emo crap.