Salon.com covers the Pyra

[Psion fan]

Looks like they interviewed @EvilDragon as well.

Made me want to come out of lurker mode to make sure everyone saw this. Can we get this into Hacker News or Reddit somehow?

Unfortunately I can't post the link as a guest.

Search for pyra in Google News and you'll find the link.

Mod Edit:
Linky http://www.salon.com/2017/03/12/rem...t-back-at-least-in-a-few-limited-engagements/

 

[Wally]

You should register

 

[klapse]

Cool! Wish they'd shown a pic.

Btw happy 1 year anniversary to ED's Prototype Video

 

[levi]

Yeah, saw that article via ED's twitter. Interesting to hear he's still planning a kickstarter or something once units are on sale properly. I do wonder how he can make some affordable pledges that way taking into account kickstarter fees though.

 

[mrpalmtop]

Hi guys,

I actually am the author of the article. I've been collecting these pocket computer things for so long, I finally couldn't resist writing about them.

It's on the front page of Slashdot right now fyi.

 

[benoitb]

We are a lot of former Psion, Jornada, Zaurus lovers here

 

[vcoleiro1]

In regards to the section of the article quoted below. I don't think Kickstarter would allow a campaign were the device has already been created and a batch has been sold and delivered to people. Indiegogo might be ok, not sure.


"He has already managed to raise several hundred thousand dollars through a private pre-order system set up on his geek’s paradise online store. Once those initial orders have been filled, Mrozek said he will probably start up a mainstream crowdfunding campaign for his Linux handheld"

 

[TrashyMG]

<EvilDragon> Haha, Indiegogo contacted me as they want me to crowdfund the Pyra
<buZz> eh
<buZz> 'plz giev us 10% of those pyra monies!'
<B-ZaR> EvilDragon: So, what did you tell them?
<EvilDragon> Haven't replied ywr.
<EvilDragon> yet
<B-ZaR> also I haven't heard projects being contacted proactively before
<B-ZaR> is this common?
<EvilDragon> No idea.

 

[vcoleiro1]

Indiegogo saw the money raked in by the GPD Pocket and Gemini PDA and must have thought lets get another Linux UMPC - Hmm, what about the Pyra, yeah, lets convince them

 

[ible]

well, maybe you could negotiate a smaller fee from indiegogo (it seems 5% plus whatever the payment method charges, e.g. credit cards), if they really are trying to court you .

 

[rygD]

I am all for mainstream crowdfunding for the second batch. Those people also wouldn't need to wait as long as the rest of us have since everything will have already been done, and it will pretty much just cover ordering more components and maybe a new case color. Seems like it would be good for everyone to me. I think ible makes a great point.

Now I am off to read the article.

 

[Grench]

Losing 10% of the revenue on a product that only carries a ~20% profit margin seems like it could be a bad proposition.

In a dream world, the Pyra could get released, spread via word of mouth and online reviews to become the device that the others are all measured against. I.e. live on free publicity.

In reality, though, a crowdfunding campaign for, "batch 2" is not so far fetched. It feels like the crowdfunding audiences will throw money at just about anything. Having an already developed device that simply needs the funding and numeric support to go into major mass production isn't such a far fetched idea. I'm fairly agnostic on which crowdfunding site gets used - or if one gets used. Having Pyras exist in the tens of thousands instead of thousands could attract more developers (good). DragonBox having to give up substantial revenue to get them... not so good?

Crowdfunders have been conditioned to expect a 'discount' on their 'purchase'. Both in quotes as how much of a discount there actually is (if any) and whether it is a purchase or not gets into some pretty grey areas. To discount the price of a Pyra AND give a substantive slice of the revenue to a crowdfunding site could quickly combine into a no-win scenario. @EvilDragon will have some interesting business decisions to make with a lot of pros and cons to consider.

 

[Wally]

@EvilDragon could try good ole bargaining to negotiate their take.

 

[rygD]

They may want a discount, but the other option is that the second batch doesn't happen due to lack of funds. If they would rather have it cheaper instead of having it at all then I guess they won't get one. The point of crowdfunding is to help raise funds so something can happen. It won't be ED's fault if he is using it correctly and others have different expectations due to others not using it correctly. I also don't think it is his responsibility to take on a financial burden because others want it cheaper. Should he pull a GPD and say the price is going to be higher just to make people feel they are getting a great deal?

 

[vcoleiro1]

Hey, money is money. Even if ED gets 20% because 10% is lost in fees etc . 20% of $1M raised on Indiegogo as a hypothetical, sure beats $Zero raised from not doing it. Plus you would also get much needed publicity to spur sales after the campaign.

I'd say do it. The Pyra needs now as much publicity as it can get, pre-order sales have basically tanked at ~ 3 sales a week now. The knowledgable market has been tapped. Almost no news outlets are picking it up . It needs an injenction of publicity to get new people looking at it

Also, as I have mentioned previously. All the UMPC camapaigns of late, such as the GPD WIN, Gemini PDA and GPD Pocket - over 60% of backers are from Japan. ED needs to find a way to tap that market. A crowdfunding camapign is a great way to do so, as it gets in all the news sites in Japan as happened with GPD and Gemini. This is the bread and butter . There is Japan, then there's the rest of the world

ED will probably need to get Japanese certification for the Pyra . In addtion to Indiegogo/Kickstarter I'd also suggest crowdfunding it on Japans crowdfunding site Makuake. GPD did it with the GPD WIN once they realised most backers were from Japan on Indiegogo. In fact GPD ran three crowdfunding campaigns for the WIN. Anyway, , a Makuake camapaign is well worth looking into. For reference, GPD charged a lot more on Makuake than they did on Indiegogo. Strange, but true

I'd also be writing to top gaming youtubers and offer them a free Pyra for a review. Of course also write to the media. All of this would happen at the time when ready

 

[Caine]

I am not sure that advertising a driving sales should be a priority right now. If you build it, they will come.

The units needs to get out, there need to be videos of what it is capable of and people need to see that it is real.
Keep in mind that the Pyra has relatively outdated specs, has been in development for years and is expensive as hell in the eyes of the large audiences.

 

[huh]

I am not sure that advertising a driving sales should be a priority right now. If you build it, they will come.

The units needs to get out, there need to be videos of what it is capable of and people need to see that it is real.
Keep in mind that the Pyra has relatively outdated specs, has been in development for years and is expensive as hell in the eyes of the large audiences.

That's why I said: "All of this would happen at the time when ready"

 

[Klumpen]

That's why I said: "All of this would happen at the time when ready"

That's what she said.