Pandora Status Update

[riosingh]

That is worded a bit awkwardly. In reality, the one is not really caused by the other. The credit card issue definitely would have happened with or without the upgrade, and the upgrade probably would have happened without the credit card issue, though the desire to compensate us for our trouble was one of the deciding factors. The reasoning went something like this:

"Hmm, we have the opertunity to give everybody a free upgrade. It will cost the company a bit, but it will help the community in the end.

Oh crap! There is a problem with some of the credit card orders and a bunch of people are going to have to re-order.

Well, if we go through with the free upgrade, maybe it will make up for the hassle of re-ordering."

Neither is directly caused by the other, thought the refund problem was a consideration in making the upgrade decision.



I think most of us are intelligent enough to work that out.

In order for you to accept this upgrade we will need to refund your order and ask you to
reorder, this is due to our credit card processor being difficult with us about this.

That says the credit card processor is being difficult about the upgrade, in plain English.

I think Craig should have had someone proof read his letter before he sent it out.

Any way you'll have to excuse my bitching. I've just got the arse i'm not in the first 600.

 

[GhostChaserUK]

no one is safe

 

[centus]

Incredible, just amazing...
Am I the only one completely calm about the whole thing?
Yes, I pre-ordered, paid the full sum for something that still does not exist, but I did my homework before going forward with that, I read a lot of what the internet has to say about Pandora (as I am sure you all did), I saw all the movies showing the amazing strides this beast has taken and I decided to take it a step further and be an early adopter.

That's right! Early adopters is what you call anyone who pre-orders under these conditions.

As such, I have no problems with the fact not all is smooth sailing, I would actually be more worried if it all went smooth! This is a community project being led by a bunch of guys who have invested a lot in this dream machine and have everything to lose from it failing!

I think you guys should accept the fact you are early adopters with all that it entails (being first to have it! as well as having to deal with the growing pains).

 

[socket]

Am I the only one completely calm about the whole thing?

Definitely not. I'm right with you. We'll get our hands on this amazing device soon enough.

 

[verm71]

I think you guys should accept the fact you are early adopters with all that it entails (being first to have it! as well as having to deal with the growing pains).

I consider myself a paying tester, nothing more. I am privileged to be a part of this history-making endeavor.

If a bunch of guys with tons of cash wanted to get together and invent a new handheld gaming console, they might have made 15-20 prototypes and hacked around, tested, developed, and tested some more until things were marketable. If things go wrong, if the road gets rough, if there are severe delays, they expect some of that and they don't need to do much PR because quite honestly, the 15-20 prototypes are probably going to go to people who can be reached on the phone to discuss things with. But without the up-front capital they decided to ask if others would like to pre-purchase one in order to fund the project. ~4000 is a lot of people to herd. Some have different levels of expectations, some have no clue and think they're going to get a DS/PSP killer with no unforeseen problems. ~4000 people is a lot of expectations to set right.

Now when the typical things go wrong, they have the added stress of having to manage ~4000 people by carefully wording memos, stickies and e-mails and managing more expectations.

Having "pre-ordered" a Pandora does not mean the same thing as "pre-ordering" a Pii (that's a portable Wii, a name I just pulled out of my, erm, hat) 30 days before Nintendo ships them out into the world.

 

[MiniSinisterMinister]

Delays are rife in the industry. How many times did Microsoft push back the release of Vista? How many times does the average videogame get delayed? I am usually not even aware of the dealys that happen. As there are so many delays, I barely read previews anymore and just wait for the the products to be available and then read a review about them. However, Pandora is different. People know that if Microsoft messes something up, they will certainly solve the problem asap. But openpandora does not have a track record of successful handheld releases. That is why there is so much more tension and anxiety.

A German news site announced today that the Pandora developers will not be able to ship the handheld this year due to bottlenecks in the supply of LCDs without even contacting ED! I couldn't believe how many people expressed their Schadenfreude and posted mean remarks saying that those people which tinker with Linux all the time never get something done, that Sony and Nintendo certainly tremble before the newcomers only that they cannot get even a mere 4000 units on the market, that they pity the people who pre-orderd because they never will play more than old games on the system, that if the Pandora gets three more applications or so it would be able to do what their mobile phone could do three years ago and that the PS3s rulez of course. Some people say that any publicity is good. I don't know.

 

[RetiredAccount]

A German news site announced today that the Pandora developers will not be able to ship the handheld this year due to bottlenecks in the supply of LCDs without even contacting ED! I couldn't believe how many people expressed their Schadenfreude and posted mean remarks saying that those people which tinker with Linux all the time never get something done, that Sony and Nintendo certainly tremble before the newcomers only that they cannot get even a mere 4000 units on the market, that they pity the people who pre-orderd because they never will play more than old games on the system, that if the Pandora gets three more applications or so it would be able to do what their mobile phone could do three years ago and that the PS3s rulez of course. Some people say that any publicity is good. I don't know.

Screw them. Anyone who thinks the Pandora is going to suck is going to miss out. If they want to be controlled by the big developers, let them. I guarantee that they will regret saying that a couple of weeks after the Pandora is released.

 

[hells_dark]

I guarantee that they will regret saying that a couple of weeks after the Pandora is released.

Well, i think they'll not regret anything,.. but so do we

 

[MiniSinisterMinister]

I couldn't make my own post because the site has a 24h ban for newcomers, but I will write a reply tomorrow stating the good aspects of the handhelds as I see them. And there are certainly some although it is not a mass market product. Many people and journalists do not fully understand what the handheld is for and why people want to have one. They still think it is a wannabe PSP killer or something and therefore it gets ridiculed.

 

[theehman]

Am I the only one completely calm about the whole thing?

Definitely not. I'm right with you. We'll get our hands on this amazing device soon enough.

Right there with you. I ordered because I support the open source community and have complete confidence in their ability to deliver a quality product.
My kids are awaiting the Pandora as eagerly as I am.

 

[Phawx]

The funny thing is I believe the Pandora is 'under the radar' for quite a lot of people.

When we all start showing off our Pandora's, you know its going up on Engadget and everyone will take notice.

It's a UMPC the size of a NDS with full game controls and a QWERTY keypad.

This device is going to be a monster.

 

[moxie]

Incredible, just amazing...
Am I the only one completely calm about the whole thing?

Nope, there's at least one more here, but I find I can't open my mouth these days in these kind of threads without my post mysteriously turning into a foaming-at-the-mouth rant about entitlement issues, spoiled brats and incessant whiners

Really, people. This is what it means to be an early adopter of a not-yet-finished device. If you preordered, this is what you bought into. Chill and live with it, or take the refund option and go buy that Aspire or whatever. It's available now, from a big safe company, There are others who will be happy to snap up your place in the preorder queue.

As for the "awkwardly worded" email: As far as I can gather, there's a large amount of money sitting in a bank, that Craig wants to move to another bank. Craig and Bank A are already at odds with each other - The rather clumsy way this is done (refunds, then re-ordering, instead of just a proper transferring of funds between banks the normal way), indicates as much. Now, the bank is sitting on a whole bunch of your money. You depend on the bank to get access to your money. The bank is being difficult, but you've found a way (the refund/reorder thing) that will get things moving the right way. With me so far?

It seems to me very prudent, in this situation, to do nothing at all that might piss off Bank A in the slightest. Not send out an email to customers saying "Bank A sucks, and that's why we have to do this charade". Definitely not post that opinion on tha intewebz, especially not on any website that can be directly linked to the company. Such as this one. Or OpenPandora.org. It would not surprise me at all if there even is a part of the contract/aqgreement between Craig&co and the Bank that says that they're not allowed to speak about the nature and reasons of the bank situation, but even if there is no such clause, I'd shut the f*ck up until all the moneys are where they should be.

In short: Lose the wedgies, people. This is part of your ride. Enjoy it.

 

[redstar1949]

will people be recieving the pandora's with a staggered release, or everyone will get them at the same time?

 

[mali]

will people be recieving the pandora's with a staggered release, or everyone will get them at the same time?

staggered

 

[4luc42d]

Incredible, just amazing...
Am I the only one completely calm about the whole thing?

Nope, there's at least one more here, but I find I can't open my mouth these days in these kind of threads without my post mysteriously turning into a foaming-at-the-mouth rant about entitlement issues, spoiled brats and incessant whiners

Really, people. This is what it means to be an early adopter of a not-yet-finished device. If you preordered, this is what you bought into. Chill and live with it, or take the refund option and go buy that Aspire or whatever. It's available now, from a big safe company, There are others who will be happy to snap up your place in the preorder queue.

As for the "awkwardly worded" email: As far as I can gather, there's a large amount of money sitting in a bank, that Craig wants to move to another bank. Craig and Bank A are already at odds with each other - The rather clumsy way this is done (refunds, then re-ordering, instead of just a proper transferring of funds between banks the normal way), indicates as much. Now, the bank is sitting on a whole bunch of your money. You depend on the bank to get access to your money. The bank is being difficult, but you've found a way (the refund/reorder thing) that will get things moving the right way. With me so far?

It seems to me very prudent, in this situation, to do nothing at all that might piss off Bank A in the slightest. Not send out an email to customers saying "Bank A sucks, and that's why we have to do this charade". Definitely not post that opinion on tha intewebz, especially not on any website that can be directly linked to the company. Such as this one. Or OpenPandora.org. It would not surprise me at all if there even is a part of the contract/aqgreement between Craig&co and the Bank that says that they're not allowed to speak about the nature and reasons of the bank situation, but even if there is no such clause, I'd shut the f*ck up until all the moneys are where they should be.

In short: Lose the wedgies, people. This is part of your ride. Enjoy it.

+1 on the calm waiting
also +1 on your whole post i agree completely and when i have "my preciousssss" in my hands i will i have the MOST awsome handheld in existence until then i wait calmly in anticipation of the first unboxing video and,of course, my own unboxing.

 

[lobski]

Ugh, I paid $40 in fees the first time I used my credit card. Now I'll have to re-pay that charge.

 

[VRAndy]

I'm not sure if this has been answered yet?

Will the pandoras be constructed and shipped out in small lots, or will the entire batch of 4000 wait until the parts are ready?

Or is that not known yet? I'm mostly just curious, but I imagine some people are going to wind up pretty upset either way.


Edit : Oh. It looks like this was asked only four posts up.

 

[javaJake]

Am I the only one completely calm about the whole thing?

Definitely not. I'm right with you. We'll get our hands on this amazing device soon enough.

I'm also calm. I'll remain in this state even if a critical bug is discovered deep within the wiring a week after mine is shipped.

Really, people. This is what it means to be an early adopter of a not-yet-finished device. If you preordered, this is what you bought into. Chill and live with it, or take the refund option and go buy that Aspire or whatever. It's available now, from a big safe company, There are others who will be happy to snap up your place in the preorder queue.

<paragraph snip>

<75% paragraph snip> It would not surprise me at all if there even is a part of the contract/aqgreement between Craig&co and the Bank that says that they're not allowed to speak about the nature and reasons of the bank situation, but even if there is no such clause, I'd shut the f*ck up until all the moneys are where they should be.

In short: Lose the wedgies, people. This is part of your ride. Enjoy it.

Agreed 110%, but...

Ugh, I paid $40 in fees the first time I used my credit card. Now I'll have to re-pay that charge.
...it's too bad people are still prone to whining, despite the consistent flow of ground-settling essays like yours, Moxie.

 

[PoisonedV]

Maybe people weren't fully aware of what pre-orders entail- yeah, its a pre-order and many of us who knew more about pandoras development realized it, but most pre orders people are used to are... pre orders, and not 'investments'

 

[lobski]

Agreed 110%, but...

Ugh, I paid $40 in fees the first time I used my credit card. Now I'll have to re-pay that charge.
...it's too bad people are still prone to whining, despite the consistent flow of ground-settling essays like yours, Moxie.

"Prone to whining"? What does this mean? You do not understand my position. I would have paid a $100 more in extra fees if it meant getting a Pandora in the first batch. My "prone to whine" isn't directed at the Pandora team, or anyone that isn't responsible. Sure, I paid knowing that there are certain risks involved with pre-ordering a non-existent[yet] item. Sure, I acknowledged the problems with Paypal(which I used first). Sure, I knew the extra fees when I was using my credit card. And I was not expecting another refund, but sure, it's all part of the risk. You can see how one can get a little frustrated, even with all the risk factors taken in.

Please don't say that I am whining over the situation.