Our New Machine, Pandora

[X-Code]

Patience... Beer will help :lol:

 

[Alex.]

All that matters is that when Craig will unveil this, it will blow us away

Who cares about a few more days?

 

[naples39]

All that matters is that when Craig will unveil this, it will blow us away

Who cares about a few more days?

This is true, but it's not unreasonable for people to see how long it takes them to get preview packages together and conclude getting the actual device together will face significantly longer delays.

I'm not panicking yet, but it's still not encouraging.

 

[Tobriand]

I think that's the thing... whilst we all want this device to be *perfect*, we're also very aware that there will be some delays in the actual release time.

And having the data-release date pushed back repeatedly has the consequence that it seems likely the same will happen to the device-release date.

I think the most reliable statement made is that "December will be a good month for information". Any specifics I'll ignore until Craig says not that the info's about to be posted but that he's just got back from the postoffice with an armload of them and they'll be with us before Christmas. Then it's in Royal Mail's hands.

True, sometimes they're not much better, but at least it'll have gone to the next stage.

 

[lubidog]

I think that's the thing... whilst we all want this device to be *perfect*, we're also very aware that there will be some delays in the actual release time.

And having the data-release date pushed back repeatedly has the consequence that it seems likely the same will happen to the device-release date.

I think the most reliable statement made is that "December will be a good month for information". Any specifics I'll ignore until Craig says not that the info's about to be posted but that he's just got back from the postoffice with an armload of them and they'll be with use before Christmas. Then it's in Royal Mail's hands.

True, sometimes they're not much better, but at least it'll have gone to the next stage.

Agreed 100% with this!

 

[teggun]

Although I can't go into details, there has been some unexpected issues that have caused delays

Confirmed! Squidge is in the know.


Hahahahaha

8/10

 

[icurafu]

I see that the reopening of GBAX has been a total success congratulations craigix. Maybe this is one of the reasons for the delay.

QUOTE
Dec 10th: Wow. You remember us then? The site is slow due to the volume of traffic - oh yes we REALLY DO have the EEE PC in stock - although for how much longer remains to be seen as they are selling at around 1 every few minutes. Awesome.

 

[chris_r]

I think that's the thing... whilst we all want this device to be *perfect*, we're also very aware that there will be some delays in the actual release time.

And having the data-release date pushed back repeatedly has the consequence that it seems likely the same will happen to the device-release date.

I think the most reliable statement made is that "December will be a good month for information". Any specifics I'll ignore until Craig says not that the info's about to be posted but that he's just got back from the postoffice with an armload of them and they'll be with use before Christmas. Then it's in Royal Mail's hands.

True, sometimes they're not much better, but at least it'll have gone to the next stage.

But......but I want info nooooooowwww! *Throws a tantrum*

 

[migo]

How about making the keys easily relabled then?

No problem. Every Craiginator™ can ship with one of these: http://www.paperstone.co.uk/cat_1540-1549-...-per-Sheet.aspx


Did you even take a look at what you posted?

QUOTE

Practice makes perfect. You can blind type on anything once you have used it often enough. For example, I would have never thought it, but I can blind text on my mobile phone - even to the point where I can send perfectly readable and understandable messages with the phone behind my back (although the WPM does take a hit then compared to having it in front of me).


Does your mobile phone have a full keyboard or are you using T9?


QUOTE


People manage to use Blackberries and lots of other equipment with a qwerty keyboard easily enough, and most people have several years experience of Qwerty, and thus 'expect' keys to be in a certain position.



With their fingers, nobody expects anything but the spacebar to be where your thumbs are.

QUOTE

I know I probably wouldn't use a portable device if it was the only keyboard which was different to the 'norm' eg. home and work pc using qwerty, pda using colemak or dvorak, simply because the developers thought it would be more efficient. Yes, it most likely would be more efficient, but only after everyone who uses that device has done so many months of training in the use of it.



A couple hours at most. It's not hard to use completely different layouts on a full sized keyboard and a thumb board. Even if you have to completely relearn it only takes 2 weeks, so your "many months" is completely off base.

QUOTE

Lets just stick to something we know works, and we know people know how to use.



I hope you guys test it out on Quake multiplayer, and actually pay attention to how it goes, before making the claim that it works.

 

[Alex.]

Do you honestly expect to play action games on the little keyboard, when you'll have dual analogs, a dpad, shoulders, and action buttons available?

 

[migo]

I'm talking about typing messages in team games, MMORPGs, stuff like that.

 

[moxie]

Putting a Dvorak layout on the *inator would be an excellent way to make sure only three people in the world bought it. It's as good an idea as making the firmware text be in Lojban - "Come on, it's a prefectly logical langue! Very effective! You'll learn the basics in, say, 2 weeks!".

 

[StealthBagel]

I'll admit my comments were probably premature since it does seem like things are moving forward at an impressive rate of speed. Hopefully not at the cost of quality. But really, such anxiousness is to be expected-- Communication about this project has been so poor I had no idea until just now there were even complete PCBs being turned out yet-- hell, such vague information as "PCBs this week" could mean anything; blank PCBs with no ICs or components in a prototyping process to the final layout, not even necessarily anything working. Why come out in public to announce a machine only to give NO information? I get the impression this project has been going on for a lot longer than most people were even aware of it, and yet even at so late a date not even a name is provided....

I still remain critical of the decision to physically mail out information instead of e-mailing it. It's a waste of time, resources and introduces yet more delays and complaints from people who don't get what they were sent, and especially pointless if it's just a piece of paper. Certainly no one will be getting an actual handheld if PCBs are barely completed but that doesn't stop people on this forum making such ridiculous conjecture....

Another part of me is saying this whole approach is rather unprofessional. There should be someone devoted to operating an OFFICIAL news channel..... a web page with real details, real images, not posts on a forum in a massive 300 page thread that delves into the most ridiculous and unrelated subject matter imaginable. A lot of what screwed up GP2X was unprofessional methods and while I can tell there is some real talent behind this project, it's being presented in such a way people will think of it as a flight of fancy. Hell, it's not hard to get the impression some 14-year old kids on a forum are designing a handheld in their garage with no hope of mass producing it and they're calling it "Craiginator". That will attract some great outside investment. :rolleyes: Appearances are everything sometimes.

 

[migo]

Putting a Dvorak layout on the *inator would be an excellent way to make sure only three people in the world bought it. It's as good an idea as making the firmware text be in Lojban - "Come on, it's a prefectly logical langue! Very effective! You'll learn the basics in, say, 2 weeks!".

You've got a pretty low opinion of the human race.

 

[A_SN]

Communication about this project has been so poor I had no idea until just now there were even complete PCBs being turned out yet

Communication about this project is so poor because at this point in the development of a product we're not even supposed to know about it at all. There will be an official news channel (a website) once official announcements about this product will be made. In other words, you just don't realise that we're quite early in the history of this product, what you expect is to be expected later on.

Putting a Dvorak layout on the *inator would be an excellent way to make sure only three people in the world bought it. It's as good an idea as making the firmware text be in Lojban - "Come on, it's a prefectly logical langue! Very effective! You'll learn the basics in, say, 2 weeks!".

Hehe, good point, you must be an idiot if you think that Dvorak would be better on the Craiginator than QWERTY.

And stop it people with your keyboard layout customization crap, you don't want people to start sticking labels on the keyboards the way they intend, cause then how the hell are you gonna do when you'll tell your user to press the W key? Will you go "The W key, that is, the 3rd key on the second row", yay

I'm glad Craig doesn't heed every crappy suggestion on this forum

 

[StealthBagel]

Pardon my french but a dvorak keyboard layout on a handheld is the most ridiculous fucking idea I've ever heard.... and proof a forum thread is about the worst possible way to collect info for a handheld design. You get ridiculous ideas from people who want it to have a built in spitoon, label maker and a hickory smoked cheddar enclosure.

 

[yodaofborg]

It should have an Esperanto keyboard layout, I mean, do we really need q, w, x or y keys?

Seriously, QWERTY will be fine, the only thing I'm concerned about is the quality and usability of the keyboard (I'm also hoping it can be stashed out of the way for when its not needed) because if it sucks too much, we may as well just pull it off and use an on screen keyboard.

 

[A_SN]

Pardon my french but a dvorak keyboard layout on a handheld is the most ridiculous fucking idea I've ever heard.... and proof a forum thread is about the worst possible way to collect info for a handheld design. You get ridiculous ideas from people who want it to have a built in spitoon, label maker and a hickory smoked cheddar enclosure.

Hallelujah for this outbreak of common sense!

 

[migo]

Hehe, good point, you must be an idiot if you think that Dvorak would be better on the Craiginator than QWERTY.

You're an idiot if you think it wouldn't. Try typing on a thumb board. You'll notice that a lot of words result in 3 or 4 letters in a row with a single thumb. Since Dvorak has a,e,i,o,u all on the left side this splits up the words so you have much more alternation between thumbs - this speeds up typing considerably. It's been proved beyond a doubt that Dvorak is better than QWERTY for a full sized keyboard - this is no different on a thumb board. In fact, any random selection of letters would be more efficient than QWERTY as QWERTY was specifically designed to be inefficient. Anyone who thinks that QWERTY is in any way better than Dvorak is completely ignorant to the facts. The only valid reason to use QWERTY is familiarity, and even that isn't a particularly good one.

QUOTE

And stop it people with your keyboard layout customization crap, you don't want people to start sticking labels on the keyboards the way they intend, cause then how the hell are you gonna do when you'll tell your user to press the W key? Will you go "The W key, that is, the 3rd key on the second row", yay


You obviously don't understand how key remapping works.

 

[Tobriand]

I still remain critical of the decision to physically mail out information instead of e-mailing it. It's a waste of time, resources and introduces yet more delays and complaints from people who don't get what they were sent, and especially pointless if it's just a piece of paper. Certainly no one will be getting an actual handheld if PCBs are barely completed but that doesn't stop people on this forum making such ridiculous conjecture....

Remember: Craigix is not stupid. If it's having to be mailed, there is a *reason* it has to be mailed. That reason could be because of the nature of the presentation of the information (e.g. a litteral developer diary as an actual book, or wanting to send us real on-paper signed photographs or whatever), or because of something about how the information is mandated to be released by their partners. It's entirely possible that, for example, there's something about not transmitting the information electronically in the various NDAs that those involved have signed, but an admission that to those involved in the project in some capacity that, presumably, we're fulfilling, eventually information that's not NDA protected can be sent in physical form. Speculation abounds.

If it's simply a spec-sheet, with no extra conditions required, though, then yes, I agree, email would be a more logical choice. But it's not. So it shouldn't be.

want people to start sticking labels on the keyboards the way they intend, cause then how the hell are you gonna do when you'll tell your user to press the W key? Will you go "The W key, that is, the 3rd key on the second row", yay

Unless the program is hardcoded to a particular keyboard code as opposed to a letter code, Linux manages things like layout configuration. And then applies it to *everything*.

So pressing the W key would always result in a W, but pressing the key that outputs code 122 (or whatever a W is on a normal QWERTY layout) might not.

The only time this might cause any problems at all is if you have a *very* high end game that has decided to forego the convenience of Linux in order for a touch extra memory and CPU-time.

But bear in mind that even on the GP2x, almost no-one gets rid of Linux, because it produces almost no performance gain, and introduces a LOT more complexity when coding. So on a beast a lot more powerful than the 2x, it makes sense to extrapolate that the performance gain would be even more microscopic, and consequently, even fewer devs will opt for that route. Therefore we can (and should) configure out keyboards as we wish. But I still wish for QWERTY.