Sirius/XM GeekTime

[Link]

http://www.mygeektime.com/dev/


I've been trying to get the Pandora on this show for weeks with no luck. Literally sat on hold a half dozen times for two hours.


Anyone have any ins or any ideas of a stunt we could pull on them to get us some publicity?


I think now is the time in the US to establish a presence, and I'm not just saying that for my benefit, but for the benefit of the entire project. I have press releases in the works for public radio in the US & Canada. My editor is revising the final copy and its off.


BaBaBooey!

 

[Nardella]

IMO OPT should not try to establish a marketing program until they can deliver an ordered Pandora quickly.

 

[Link]

I may be a unique situation, but that is possible NOW, and IMO, should remain possible into the future. Once Global Components starts using the new cases, I'm hoping to offer both colors, with shipment within a 24 hour timeframe for US and Canadian (and heck, Mexican if you are out there and need a Pandora quick). The only thing that would hold that up would be Google Checkout or PayPal Security measures, or the dreadED weekend (ED doesn't like weekends).

 

[Link]

Just a little update here, today I talked with Mike the Intern from the Howard Stern show and I have an email address for Sirius. My plan is to go to NYC with a 1GHz Pandora and let them play some games and hopefully Android will be a bit more mature as this is what got their attention. Whoever the young lady that answered the phone the last three months I was calling, I'm glad she took the day off.


If you got to talk about the Pandora on the radio, what would you say?

 

[Prometheus]

The first things that spring to mind for me are the flexibility, size, and ever-growing software library. The community is very important too, but I'm not sure that that would be as relevant to non-enthusiasts as the former points are likely to be.

 

[_wb_]

Main point should be that it is Open, so you can do what you want. No vendor locking you in (in terms of both software and hardware) like with any other gaming device and smartphones and tablets etc. Uses standard hardware like USB, SD cards, earplug jack - no proprietary expensive incompatible variants. Nice repo with lots of Free Software and a very user friendly PND system with a PNDManager that is nicer than Apple's appstore or anything else. Great battery life. Great keyboard for its size. Full desktop experience and handheld gaming device in one. Great emulators for anything up to Playstation and Nintendo64. Great price too, given that there is no big evil corporation behind this that can produce millions of units in Chinese factories with bad working conditions and sell them below cost because they make money by selling software. This price includes everything, not just the proverbial Tetris and you have to buy the rest. And it is assembled in Germany, not China - so nicer working conditions and more reliable quality.

 

[Prometheus]

Great price too, given that there is no big evil corporation behind this that can produce millions of units in Chinese factories with bad working conditions and sell them below cost because they make money by selling software.

And it is assembled in Germany, not China - so nicer working conditions and more reliable quality.

Your post is great, _wb_, but I would have to take issue with the above two quotes, as regardless of where assembly occurs, parts of the machine are made in China (for example, if memory serves the bare PCBs are made there, as are the casings, and I may be forgetting some other components as well - does anyone know about the origin of the display, for example? That sort of thing).


Moreover, not all Chinese companies have poor working conditions, just as not all Western companies have fantastic ones.


Talking big about not having anything to do with particular countries could easily come back to bite the speaker given this. Moreover, some might find it to be an off-putting type of rhetoric, which is something I'd imagine is better avoided if a product is what's being showcased, rather than an ideology.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Smallest PC ever.


Full control and choice given to user.


No chinese child harmed during production.

 

[Neelix]

Smallest PC ever.


Full control and choice given to user.


No chinese child harmed during production.

I'm with Prometheus on this, references to china like that should definitely be omitted.


Personally, I'd also recommend avoiding certain comparisons with Apple's appstore... PNDManager may be nicer, but thats a subjective viewpoint.


- Neelix

 

[_wb_]

Prometheus, you're right about the China thing, and it is probably best not to mention it in the radio show, but at least _some_ of the work is being done in Germany in what seems to be a relatively nice factory, which is more than what can be said about e.g. the iPad or iPhone. My point was that the price is very reasonable given the scale of production and that it is actually an extremely portable laptop with builtin gamepad, not something like a DS.


About the comparison with the appstore: yes, design is a matter of taste, but in terms of functionality, the PNDManager is strictly better than Apple's thing. In terms of available software, yes, the appstore has zillions of apps, but the vast majority of those plainly suck, and the ones that are nice are not for free.

 

[Prometheus]

My point was that the price is very reasonable given the scale of production and that it is actually an extremely portable laptop with builtin gamepad, not something like a DS.

I know. That's why I praised the rest of your post.

 

[NearTao]

If you actually do manage to get on the set remember a few things:


Do your research... figure out what will illicit a wow from them immediately. Do they have any favorite games, systems or whatever that you can walk in pre-loaded and get them to say something nice. Controls can be difficult to explain in short order... find something that people naturally understand. Stink test might be to ask people on the street to try and play whatever game you think is appropriate as your first "wow" demo and see if they struggle for more than 30 seconds.


Remember that studios can be dark and hard to see... will you or the hosts have enough light to muddle through what you need to show.


Remember that this is a radio show... and it's hard for the audience to always hear what somebody is excited about because they cannot see it.


Work on a script. You'd probably be lucky to get 5-10 minutes at the most. Make every second count and know exactly what you want to say for different topics of conversation and how you can segue into areas you want to steer the conversation. I mean you don't want to sound 100% rehearsed, but being able to rattle off information about the system will help.


Take a note from Apple's marketing of the iPhone. It's probably less important at this point to talk about spec bullet points other than what the system is capable of and that the software library exists. Does it matter that Firefox runs less optimally with 256mb of memory vs. 512mb of memory or is it more impressive that it runs at all and you have a full keyboard for data entry on such a tiny device?


Anyway... good luck!


Now somebody needs to port a sirius/xm streaming app to the pandora so we can listen to the spot in realtime.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Ye, China reference was just a joke, told like this, and especially be cause maybe hundred of children died painting the cases ^^.