Nubs?

[Bosbeetle]

QUOTE
Craigix: Looks like the company who designed the nubs has gone tits up, fortunately the moulds are already at the factory. We will deal with it.


from twitter

does this mean nubs from the second batch have to be made by another compagny or that even the nubs of the first batch are going to be made by another compagny. I dont think the latter because I thought (and this is all asumption here) the nubs were allready in.

 

[lulzfish]

Maybe the company that designed them is separate from the factory.

 

[gruso]

It does sound like the company was only responsible for the design. I suppose having the moulds already at the factory is a bit like a software company going tits up, but leaving you all their source code first.

 

[Chip]

It does sound like the company was only responsible for the design. I suppose having the moulds already at the factory is a bit like a software company going tits up, but leaving you all their source code first.

This is correct. The design company went under, but the factory remains and can make more nubs whenever we need them. The problem is that although we paid the design company for the first batch of nubs, they never paid the factory. This means we're going to have to pay for the nubs twice, which really sucks.

 

[Prometheus]

^ I suspected that was the case, and it's good to see it clarified. (Also, many thanks Chip for clarifying it so quickly, before it potentially got blown up into something crazy. )

EDIT: I mean, good that it doesn't mean more nubs would have to be designed. The paying twice bit is not good.

 

[Bosbeetle]

nice te hear the nubs are okay

Pretty sucky that they had to pay the nubs twice how much bad luck can one console compagny have

 

[elwing]

The problem is that although we paid the design company for the first batch of nubs, they never paid the factory. This means we're going to have to pay for the nubs twice, which really sucks.

the first batch you mean a small prototype batch or the full 8000 batch?

 

[mcobit]

What 8000?

I always thought 4000 will be produced in first batch.

 

[elwing]

What 8000?

I always thought 4000 will be produced in first batch.

2nubs * 4000 = 8000

 

[Chip]

The full first batch of 8000 has already been made. They were shipped out to our factory months ago, but there was a problem with the firmware (yes, the nubs have their own firmware) and had to be sent back. They've been fixed, but they won't send them back until we pay for them again. It's a shitty situation, but you can hardly blame the factory for not shipping parts that they haven't been paid for, even if we already did pay someone else already.

 

[joa]

Like most things during this credit crunch, That doesn't seem fair at all.
Maybe try to get the nubs heavily discounted given that they're specific for the pandora and already made and that they're supposed to be chasing another company for payment.

 

[Esn]

Thanks for the quick news update, Chip.

Seems like you guys are being screwed over by many companies you deal with. Maybe once things settle down a bit, you can devote some time to lawsuits and trying to get some of your money back... h34r:

 

[Monk]

Thankyou Chip. Both posts greatly increase on the original datum and clarify what the exact problem is (which seems to be slightly unclear from Craig's original sentence IMHO).

 

[kin]

thnx for the detailed update.


kin

 

[craigix]

That's the twitter char limit for you

We are registering as creditors with the people dealing with the bankruptcy. I doubt we will get much of our $30k back though.

 

[Monk]

If only you'd been able to order by credit card!



j/k - having a company vanish with your money is the pits. It's happened to me with MUCH smaller sums a couple of times, and it isn't funny. Bon chance.

 

[WizardStan]

Maybe try to get the nubs heavily discounted given that they're specific for the pandora and already made and that they're supposed to be chasing another company for payment.
In order to get a discount, they'd have to be willing to walk away and start from scratch. The factory knows that it'd cost way more to have new ones designed and made than to just pay for these ones what the factory is actually owed, even if it's not owed by the OP guys directly. If Craig et al threatened to walk away, the factory would call their bluff, and then there'd be tension later. Just take the unfortunate hit now for a smoother ride in the future.

 

[renegadechic]

it sure doesn't seem the best kind of market to be in the UMPC game. according to engadget OQO might be looking to be bought up by someone. apparently they had a high rate of failure with their components. here's to hoping that OP don't suffer similarly. i'd actually rather the device came out later still if it meant the company didn't get ruined by replacing units and parts and was more likely to be robust.

 

[ashdjones]

How crazy that the nubs have their own firmware!

 

[j.pickens]

How crazy that the nubs have their own firmware!

That's actually very smart.
Use embedded code in the nubs to interpret the directional signals, yielding filtered, corrected output for the OS on the Pandora to see, saving processor overhead and improving performance.